Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1302: Crying for Justice in Front of the Palace

After visiting Gao Yanzong in the prison of Jingzhao Prefecture, Gao Xiaowan and his brothers became more eager to rescue their brothers from prison. On the way home, they split up. Gao Xiaoyu and Gao Xiaowan each visited the dignitaries in the capital who could help, while Gao Xiaoheng went to the house of their tenth uncle Gao Xi to find out what they had gained.

In the evening, the brothers returned home to meet again. Gao Xiaoyu was the first to speak about how he went to his father-in-law Lu Zhengshan's house to inquire and learned that Wuxiang Gong Li Quji had recently been appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and had left Chang'an as the ambassador of the Guandong household registration, leading the 12 envoys to leave Chang'an and head east of Tongguan. It is estimated that he will not return to the court until the end of this year at the earliest.

After hearing the news, the brothers looked unhappy. It should be noted that the households that Li Quji and others collected were all from their former Northern Qi territory, which naturally made the descendants of the fallen king feel very disappointed. Moreover, because Li Quji was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission, they had nowhere to turn for help.

As for Gao Xiaowan, he also gained nothing. He visited several powerful people in the capital, but either he didn't gain much or he couldn't even get in the door.

It seemed that Gao Xi was their last hope, but Gao Xiaoheng said, "I have been waiting for a long time at Uncle Ten's residence, but he has not returned. I am afraid that my brothers will be worried, so I will go home to report the news."

"This should also be good news. Uncle Shi and his mother have reunited here, so naturally they have a lot to say. It is normal for him to stay for dinner and stay overnight. When he returns, he will definitely come as soon as possible to report the good news!"

After a brief thought, Gao Xiaowan spoke again. The other two brothers nodded repeatedly after hearing his words. They had really had enough of disappointment during this period and were eager for something good to happen.

But they were disappointed after all. When it was getting dark in the evening, just before the gate of the alley was closed, a servant of Gao Wei hurried over. However, what he reported was not good news. Instead, he informed that Gao Wei was intercepted and abducted by a group of playboys in the capital: "The young master had just left the residence of Duke Qi in the morning and was about to return home when a group of playboys suddenly rushed out of the alley, holding the young master and me hostage with bows and swords and taking me to another alley. I escaped when they were not paying attention, but I didn't dare to go back to tell my mistress, so I came to the mansion to inform the young masters..."

"My uncle was kidnapped? Yongxingfang is a prestigious place in Beijing, where many powerful people live. How could a murderer dare to roam around?"

Gao Xiaowan and the others' faces suddenly changed after hearing this, and they immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. Gao Xiaoyu even frowned and said, "Could it be that the Cui family of Boling is seeking revenge? If so, how could they intercept my brothers and hold my uncle hostage?"

"No matter what, we should report it to the authorities first! Because of Ah Wu's past, Jingzhao Prefecture has been very tight on defense recently. It's impossible for something like this to go unnoticed!"

Gao Xiaowan made the decision immediately, but it was already late at night, the gates were closed and a curfew had begun, so if he wanted to go out, he would need a certificate from the head of the neighborhood.

After knowing this special situation, Nafang was willing to issue a warrant. However, when Gao Xiaowan planned to take a few more servants with him for safety reasons, he was only allowed to go with one person. Although he felt helpless, in order to report to the authorities as soon as possible to save people, Gao Xiaowan had to take the risk and go to Jingzhao Prefecture.

"A fallen prince is worse than pigs and dogs! In our homeland, we had no taboos. Now in Chang'an, even when our family members are in danger, we cannot leave the neighborhood to report to the authorities. The world is dangerous and difficult..."

Gao Xiaoheng was already suffering from illness and was often in negative emotions. Now, troubles were brewing at home, making him feel even worse. He sighed repeatedly.

No one in this world is born superior to others. They are lucky to be born in an imperial family, which is at least a thousand times better than their grandfather's poor background that couldn't even afford a horse. Now that the situation has changed, it is good enough to be able to save a life. Naturally, no one will indulge and protect them anymore. If they still cling to the past and refuse to face the reality, they will undoubtedly embarrass themselves.

Because Gao Yanzong had killed someone in the street in Chang'an before, Jingzhao Prefecture had been on high alert in recent days. After receiving Gao Xiaowan's report, all the officials were complaining in their hearts, and immediately launched a thorough investigation throughout the city based on the known clues.

Although the officials in the capital seemed to be somewhat ineffective in preventing crimes, they were very efficient in tracking down the crimes afterwards. Following the investigation of clues in various districts, the whereabouts of Gao Xi who had been abducted were determined by dawn. According to eyewitnesses, he was currently being detained in a private house in Longqingfang near Chunmingmen in the east of the city.

"Now that you know where they are, why don't you rush over to rescue them?"

Gao Xiaowan stayed in the front government hall of Jingzhao Prefecture that night waiting for news. When he learned that Gao Xi's whereabouts had been found out, he hurriedly spoke out.

But soon, the officials who stayed behind in the palace all looked troubled. One of the officials, seeing Gao Xiaowan's anxious expression, stepped forward and whispered, "Gao Fengyu, please wait for a moment. This matter can only be resolved after the Grand Yin returns to the office. The house in Longqingfang is the villa of the Yongguogong Yu Taifu family..." "Yu, Yu Taifu?"

  Gao Xiaowan was shocked when he heard this, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He didn't know why Yu Jin wanted to make things difficult for his family, but if it was really Yu Jin who did it, it would be a big problem for his family!

He noticed that the officials in Jingzhao Prefecture were looking at him with strange eyes, and he became even more panicked, so he hurriedly said, "I haven't returned home all night, and my family is still waiting for news. Since things have been figured out, I'd better go home as soon as possible to report the news. I believe that the magistrate and the officials in the prefecture will handle this matter impartially and give justice to the people!"

After saying this, he hurriedly left Jingzhao Prefecture. Seeing that it was still dark, he ordered his servants to hide by the roadside for the time being and return home to report the news after daybreak. He then went straight to the Suzaku Gate of the imperial city, holding his official token.

In front of the Suzaku Gate, officials from various districts also arrived one after another. Gao Xiaowan was not very noticeable among them. He just paused after he hurried into the imperial city. After thinking for a while, he tore off the inner cloth of his robe and bit his fingertips, and wrote several large "injustice" characters on the cloth. Then he returned to the Suzaku Gate and knelt in front of the gate in front of all the ministers entering the city, holding the cloth with the word "injustice" high up, and shouted: "I have injustice, and I need to appeal to your Majesty! There are corrupt officials in the court, who are rampant and lawless and bully good ministers!"

It was a busy time when all the officials were going to court and offices. Gao Xiaowan knelt in front of the Suzaku Gate and cried out for justice, which immediately attracted many eyes. In no time, the imperial guards came forward and surrounded him and led him to the imperial city. However, the news had already spread here, and many officials could not help but talk about it, wanting to find out who this so-called traitor in the court was.

Since Gao Xiaowan was brought under control in time, the subsequent court meeting was not greatly affected and was still held as usual. However, everyone at the meeting noticed that the faces of several prime ministers were rather solemn, and they couldn't help but speculate that something big might be happening.

After the court meeting was over, the officials returned to their offices. But not long after, someone discovered that the Yongzhou governor Cui Yanmu and Jingzhao Yin Su Chun, who had their own offices in the capital and were not working in the imperial city, had come to the imperial city, each sweating profusely, and went straight to the Zhengshi Hall in the north of the Menxia Province.

At this time, in the side hall of Qianyuan Palace in Zhongchao, Li Tai was frowning and listening to Li Xiaoyong's report: "It is true. According to what I have seen and heard, Duke Linzhang Gao Xi went to visit Duke Qi's mansion yesterday morning and left after two quarters of an hour. It happened that Duke Ningyi Yuwenzhi and the youngest son of the Grand Tutor Yu Lan were passing by the street. When they saw Duke Linzhang leaving Duke Qi's mansion with goods, they went to stop him..."

The spies organized by Li Xiaoyong in the capital gradually grew in size, and their coverage of the several alleys where the powerful and wealthy gathered in the capital became more detailed. So when Li Tai expressed his desire to know about the relevant matters, his people quickly sorted out the context of the matter and reported it.

The story was simple, just a bunch of playboys making trouble. The reason why Gao Xi was imprisoned in Yu Jin's villa was because of Yu Jin's son Yu Lan. As the boy was getting older, the villa in Longqingfang was originally prepared for him to start a family and be independent, so Yu Wenzhi and his men imprisoned Gao Xi here.

"Why did they keep the Duke of Linzhang in prison?"

After hearing the whole story, Li Tai asked again, could it be that Yuwen Zhi also wanted to kill Gao Xi and make Gao Huan without an heir?

Li Xiaoyong then hurriedly said, "This matter still needs to be inquired about. I heard that Duke Ningyi intends to take advantage of this opportunity to gather all the meritorious families and petition the court to seize Duke Qi's throne in order to correct the order of succession."

"This kid is quite courageous! Continue to monitor his behavior. Anyone who has come into contact with him recently will be recorded! The daily comings and goings of the people in the Yongguo Mansion will also be carefully monitored."

After listening to this, Li Tai sneered and waved his hand to signal Li Xiaoyong to withdraw from the arrangements for the time being. He then walked out of the hall, rode the imperial horse and went straight to the government hall.

When Li Tai arrived at the government hall, the prime ministers and the governors of Yongzhou and Jingzhao rushed out to greet him. He ignored the greetings and went straight into the hall after getting off his horse. After everyone followed him in, he threw the injustice-spelling cloth confiscated from Gao Xiaowan on the ground, then pointed at Cui Yanmu and Su Chun and sneered, "You two are really too noble to have time. Now you are entrusting the safety of the important areas of the capital to us. It seems that you two are not up to the task!"

"I have failed in my duty, Your Majesty, please punish me!"

The two men knew that there had been a series of murders and kidnappings in the capital in recent days, and that they all involved people with high official titles. As the governors of the capital, they could not escape the blame. When they heard the emperor's angry words, they did not dare to argue and quickly bowed down to apologize.

The Council Hall is where the prime minister works and holds meetings. Li Tai seldom comes here unless there is something special. The reason why he came here today is to show his attention to this matter. After reprimanding the heads of the two governments, he dismissed Su Chun, the Jingzhao Yin who was the first to be punished, and appointed Liu Qing, the Minister of Justice, as the Chief Clerk of Yongzhou and concurrently the Jingzhao Yin. He will not only investigate the matter thoroughly, but also vigorously rectify the public security in the capital!