All the ancestors in the capital begged me to be a substitute

Chapter 319 Beat to death (two in one)

A series of shocks had made Li Xiaoqing numb. She was not even surprised that Li Xiangyang would blame her at such a time.

If he hadn't thought about doing this early on, how could he have kept her in the dark all this time.

Previously, when she was at the Zhenguo Palace in Yunjiang, Li Xiaoqing would not tolerate Xu Yuanshan sacrificing her arm to survive.

This time, she would not be patient in front of Li Xiangyang.

"I can't understand what my brother said."

Li Xiaoqing spoke quietly, "My husband just had a few disagreements with the Duke of Zhenguo. After my brother learned about it, he specifically asked me to persuade him to kill Longpo and die. My husband died a year earlier than Emperor Xiaode. How could he instruct people to harm Emperor Xiaode?"

She said, deliberately wiping the corner of her eyes with the handkerchief, "Besides, after my husband died, my brother said that I was a woman and it was not convenient for me to show up to take care of business matters, so I took over the incense shop. Now why does my brother kill Xiao Xiao?" The fate of Emperor De depends on my husband and me."

Li Xiangyang never expected that Li Xiaoqing would sell him so quickly.

"You idiot, is your brain broken?"

He turned around in shock and looked at Li Xiaoqing angrily.

"Is your ghost husband dead? When did he die? You know it, I know it, and the prince and the princess also know it. How can you confuse right and wrong here?"

"Brother Wei knows that the death of Zhao Long has made you resentful of Brother Wei, but you are the daughter of the Li family. The Li family gave birth to you and raised you, not for you to drag the entire Li family to death for a man!"

Li Xiaoqing heard the word "Zhao Long" and smiled sadly when she thought of the corpse outside.

Compared to Xu Yuanshan and Zhao Long, the backstabbing from her biological brother hurt her even more.

When she is needed, she is the daughter of the Li family.

When she is not needed, she is just the water thrown out.

"Brother just said that when you get married, you must obey your husband. Naturally, I have to follow your brother's teachings." She lowered her head and said softly, "My husband died in Zhanlongpo six years ago. This is known to the whole capital. , where did my brother know that he was not dead?"

Li Xiangyang's face darkened.

When Li Huai returned to Beijing, he told him everything that happened in Yunjiang.

It was related to the secrets of Zhenguo's palace. The emperor agreed with the prince and kept the news of Xu Yuanda's death from everyone in the world.

He shouldn't have revealed it so easily, otherwise it would definitely arouse the emperor's dissatisfaction.

But now, he doesn't care much anymore.

Li Xiangyang said to Li Huai: "Dalang, tell me what happened to you in Yunjiang, why she was abandoned by the Xu family, tell the truth, there is no need to save face for her."

Unexpectedly, instead of mentioning anything about Yunjiang, Li Huai asked with a pale face: "Father, was it really you who opened the 'Tianxiang Pavilion' seven years ago?"

Li Xiangyang opened his eyes wide in shock, "You...you..."

Li Huai kowtowed to him: "Father, my son knows that the shopkeeper and clerk of my aunt's incense shop, who have been raised in the village of our Marquis Mansion, are indeed members of the Li family. If this is really what you did, you'd better tell me as soon as possible. The emperor confesses his sins frankly, that is the way to be loyal to the emperor!"

Li Xiangyang never expected that the only son he had high hopes for would disobey him at such a time.

He was so angry that one Buddha left his body and two Buddhas ascended to heaven.

"You are a traitor, you are a traitor!" He covered his heart with one hand and pointed at Li Huai with the other, his face turned blue with anger, "Do you know what you are talking about?"

"My son knows." Li Huai straightened his back, "Because my son knows that Emperor Xiaode suddenly died suddenly and was most likely to be poisoned, so Emperor Xiaode's clothes, food and daily utensils were all embroidered. The envoy and the imperial doctor in the palace have tested the poison."

"In the 24th Division of the Sixth Bureau, during that period, all the internal officials and maids who had contact with the East Palace were severely interrogated, and none of them survived. Only Tianxiang Pavilion, which regularly paid tribute to the palace, was thoroughly investigated. However, due to the relationship with the Duke of Zhenguo, luckily it was not affected too much."

"My son originally thought that this matter may be related to Tianxiang Pavilion, but there is no evidence. Now... In short, our Yiyang Marquis Mansion has the love of the Tian family, and we must not do anything unfaithful or unjust."

Nowadays, the world only knows that Emperor Xiaode was killed by Yun Liangdi using the technique of overcoming witchcraft. They also know that Chu Yan spared Yun Liangdi's life despite the doubts of hundreds of officials and the disapproval of the world.

But no one knows that there are still many doubts about the death of Emperor Xiaode.

Li Huai said this, which was tantamount to pointing out the doubts about Emperor Xiaode's death in public.

It was the first time for everyone present to see such an "upright" prince of the Hou family.

To put it nicely, it is "killing relatives for the sake of justice".

To put it harshly, he is just a traitor to his family, a wolf-hearted person.

Shen Lingxi never expected that Li Huai would attack Li Xiangyang at this time.

It was inconvenient for her to take out the evidence she had prepared in advance.

Shen Lingxi was curious and looked at Liu Meiren questioningly.

During this time, Liu Meiren often went to the Li family, and she knew everything about the Li family's inner house.

Seeing Shen Lingxi looking over, she didn't hide it and said to Shen Lingxi from the air: "This Li Huai is a wonderful man. His mother was originally the maid of the old lady of Yiyanghou. She was drunk by Yiyanghou. She was ruined after getting drunk. The maid was a decisive person and knew that the wife of Marquis Yiyang was jealous and unfriendly and did not want to be Li Xiangyang's concubine, so she begged the old lady to send her to Zhuangzi where she was dowed. "

"Who would have imagined that the maid was pregnant with Li Xiangyang's seed and secretly gave birth to a pair of twins in the village. The legitimate wife had no children, and the old lady felt sorry for her newborn grandson. She was afraid that the three girls would be bullied by her daughter-in-law. So he quietly raised him in Zhuangzi until he was ten years old. Li Xiangyang's wives and concubines, not to mention legitimate children, did not even give birth to a bastard."

"Li Xiangyang's legitimate wife became pregnant one after another, unable to hold her fetuses, and was in bad health. Before she died, the old lady informed Li Xiangyang of the existence of the three wives. You can imagine how happy Li Xiangyang was. She went to Zhuangzi in person that day. Go up and take the three ladies back to the house."

At this point, Liu Meiren sighed, "I won't tell you what happened next, but you can guess it. Within half a year, the mother-in-law died of illness, and the twin sisters were abducted by the flower girl and disappeared without a trace. Only the remaining This only son was lucky enough to survive...and then we ended up in this situation."

When the two were talking, Yiyang Marquis Li Xiangyang was already extremely angry. When he heard Li Huai's words, he rolled his eyes and fainted.

The emperor's face was extremely gloomy.

"Imperial physician, wake up Marquis Yiyang. I want him to explain to me face to face what is going on."

The imperial doctors swarmed forward, pinching people, and giving needles to Marquis Yiyang, but Marquis Yiyang did not move at all.

Look at Dayi lying down on the ground.

Upon seeing this, Li Huai knelt down in front of Li Xiangyang and lay beside his ear without knowing what he said——

Li Xiangyang's eyes widened in shock and he sat up from the ground!

"You! You! You!" He pointed at Li Huai in disbelief, his lips trembling with anger.

Liu Meiren was a revenant and loved to join in the fun. When Li Huai leaned over Li Xiangyang's ear, she immediately floated in front of them and heard Li Huai's whisper.Liu Meiren's eyes lit up and she looked at Li Huai with a rare hint of appreciation in her surprise.

This reaction was really curious in Shen Lingxi's eyes.

Liu Meiren looked at her with a smile and was about to speak——

But I heard the emperor at the top, saying to Li Xiangyang, "Marquis Yiyang, for the sake of your loyalty to me over the years, I will give you a chance. Tell me, is that incense shop yours?" Is there anything wrong with the Bihanxiang that was brought to the palace as a tribute?"

The emperor's majestic questioning made Li Xiangyang finally recover from the shock.

He took a deep look at Li Huai, knelt down towards the emperor, and said sincerely: "Reporting to the emperor, I have never interfered with the incense shop of Zhenguo Palace, and I would never dare to poison Emperor Xiaode. I I can swear to God, if I interfere in the affairs of Zhenguogong Incense Shop, I will be struck by thunder and die..."

"Marquis Yiyang's poisonous oath is so casual." At this moment, Shen Lingxi spoke mockingly, "I just don't know, if there is really evidence, it can prove the Tianxiang incident seven years ago." The pavilion is yours, how can you summon the thunder from the sky to kill you?"

This is not polite at all.

The emperor frowned and looked at her, "Princess, what evidence have you found?"

"Back to the emperor, before her death, the old lady Zhenguo gave her daughter-in-law an account book."

She said and glanced at Chunjun in the distance.

Chunjun presented the account book that Cao gave to Shen Lingxi before the emperor, "In this account book, all the money and cash flow from the opening of Tianxiang Pavilion seven years ago to the final closure were recorded, as well as all the money and cash flow from the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion. .”

"Judging from the flow of information, although Tianxiang Pavilion was opened in the name of the Xu family, from the beginning of the shop's opening, the Xu family had no other investment except a few shops. However, Tianxiang Pavilion had an income of tens of thousands taels a year. Although the pavilion sells incense, it does not buy incense, so where does the incense it sells come from?"

Li Xiangyang didn't expect that Shen Lingxi still had such evidence in his hands.

Fortunately, he had already thought of countermeasures to these problems.

Li Xiangyang snorted coldly and said with certainty: "Where can it come from? Of course it was the Duke of Zhen who secretly let people in while the gate was locked. Doesn't this flowing water prove my innocence even more? I didn't That ability, smuggling spices from the border to Beijing."

"Marquis Yiyang doesn't have the ability." Shen Lingxi looked at him with a smile, "But Marquis Yiyang is rich."

As she spoke, she took out a piece of accounting paper with an official seal from her sleeve, "In the Great Zhou Dynasty, all sea goods from the east, especially spices, were registered by the Shipping Department, and taxes were collected uniformly. This piece of paper It’s the inside page of the Shipping Department’s account book.”

"The two spices in the Bihan Incense, Shenguang and Moonscale, are both produced in the Tuhun Kingdom."

"Six years ago, when Bihanxiang was the most popular in the capital, these two spices, according to the records of the Shibo Department, were purchased by a person named Li Qian. Li Qian is your Yiyang Marquis Mansion. stewardship."

"In just one year, Li Qian only had these two spices and paid a tax of 2 taels. Based on the tax at that time, Li Qian bought at least 10 taels of Shen Guang and Yue Lin."

Li Xiangyang's pupils shrank and he argued: "I don't know about this. Maybe it's my sister who doesn't want the Xu family to know, so she quietly instigated Li Qian to help her."

Li Xiaoqing retorted without politeness at all: "If Li Qian is doing things for me, what about the money he makes? The spice business makes a huge profit. With a principal of 10 taels, he must make at least more than 30 taels. If I have so much Money, why bother opening this 'Tianxiang Pavilion'? Is it because I'm tired of living?"

Li Xiangyang choked.

"Ms. Li is right." Shen Lingxi looked at him and said: "Five years ago, the amount you gave to the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion was only 5 taels. And your Yiyang Marquis Mansion, for two consecutive years, with your Yiyang In the name of the marquis, as many as 56 taels of farmland and shop land deeds were transferred to various government offices throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty."

Speaking of this, Shen Lingxi asked in a deep voice: "I dare to ask Yiyang Marquis, in the past ten years, the most annual income of your house is only 3 taels of silver. Where did you get these 56 taels of silver?" Earned?"

Li Xiangyang gritted his teeth and looked at her, his face flushed red from suppressing it, but he didn't say a word for a long time.

He couldn't say a single word to defend himself.

After all, I was careless, thinking that everything would be fine if I ruined the account.

Unexpectedly, there was a flaw in spending money.

Li Xiaoqing looked at him in shock, "If you earn 56 taels of silver, you will only give 5 taels to the Xu family. It's not even a fraction of what you earned. In the end, the Xu family will have to bear the crime of robbing the family and exterminating the family for you. Do you have it?" Have you ever thought that I am also the wife of the Xu family? You really don’t care about my life or death!"

The emperor, who had watched with cold eyes until now, had to admit that the evidence Shen Lingxi presented this time had hammered the Yiyang Marquis to death.

Regardless of other things, the incense shop seven years ago must belong to Li Xiangyang.

As for the death of his royal brother...

"Marquis Yiyang, I also want to know how you plan to summon the thunder from the sky and kill yourself?" the emperor said coldly.

Li Xiangyang shuddered when he heard this.

He quickly knelt on the ground and begged the emperor with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, I have no choice but to deal with this matter. Tianxiang Pavilion is indeed handled by me, but I really don't know what happened to the death of Emperor Xiaode. Ah! Please, the emperor, please spare me this time for the sake of the dragon seed in the belly of Concubine Yue!"

"What did you say?" The emperor's face changed slightly, and he stood up suddenly, with surprise in his eyes. "Say it again, Yue Fei..."

"Back to the Emperor, I came here from Concubine Yue. Just now, the imperial physician diagnosed that the concubine is already three months pregnant." Li Xiangyang reported with tears in his eyes.

When Shen Lingxi heard this, she finally understood what the "gold medal for immunity from death" that Li Xiangyang had mentioned earlier was...

It is difficult for the emperor to have heirs. Since his three sons died one after another, he has paid more attention to heirs.

However, among the three thousand beauties in the harem, only Concubine Zhao gave birth to a prince in the past five years.

At this moment, when he heard that Concubine Yue was pregnant, he was extremely happy.

"Liu Lang, you can continue the trial of this case. I have to go and see Yue Fei."

The emperor hurriedly put down these words and walked out of the tent.

Li Xiangyang bravely raised his head and looked at the emperor eagerly.

His own heirs are having a hard time, so they can naturally understand the emperor's mood at this moment.

I originally thought that the emperor would be so happy because his daughter was pregnant that he would temporarily break up the banquet to give him time to deal with it.

Unexpectedly, the emperor not only named the prince to continue the interrogation, but even walked past him without looking at him.

Completely regardless of his life or death.

Li Xiangyang looked at the emperor's retreating back and felt a basin of ice water pouring down from his pocket, chilling him to the core.

If the emperor were present, he might still be thinking about the friendship they had in the dormitory, or maybe he would be lenient to Li Yuejiao because of her pregnancy.

But now that the prince is on trial, how can he still have any hope of survival?

　Tuhun Kingdom is the ancient name for the South Arabian generation.Spices tax rate refers to Song Dynasty, 20%
　　
　
(End of this chapter)