Jiuxi

Chapter 866: Family, Country and the World

When Li Shizhi shouted this, most of the court officials showed expressions of confusion and contempt.

In their view, this powerful Minister of Personnel, leader of the Jiangnan clan, was obviously crazy, otherwise how could he issue such an order so self-righteously?
How could the guards in the palace obey his orders?

However, important officials such as Xue Nanting, Xu Zuo, and Xiao Wangzhi all changed their expressions.

The next moment, the more than one hundred guards who were originally surrounding the area seemed to have gone crazy. They drew their swords almost at the same time and walked towards Lu Chen's position. The other guards were at a loss.

"Li Shizhi, you are crazy!"

Empress Dowager Xu was shocked and angry. Her sharp eyes frightened the eunuch Feng Jue standing next to her so much that his legs went limp.

How could he have imagined that among the more than 200 carefully arranged guards, there were so many people planted by Li Shizhi!

Li Shizhi pursed his lips tightly. He finally endured it and did not expose the true face of Empress Dowager Xu on the spot, because he still wanted to make a final effort. As long as he could kill Lu Chen, there might be a chance of turning the tables!
Queen Mother Xu was too stupid. She showed weakness time and again, giving Lu Chen too much leeway. As long as she decisively ordered the guards to take action, and with his trump card hidden in the dark, Lu Chen would have become a corpse long ago.

If not for this, he would not have been forced to this point, exposing the fact that he had extended his hands into the palace in front of all the civil and military officials.

At this time, he no longer cared about the impact because this was his only chance.

While all the ministers were shocked, Li Shizhi looked up at the majestic and solemn top of the hall, and suddenly a strong panic arose in his heart, because those guards were ready to take action, why didn't Cui Yu show up?
Li Shizhi had just given a secret signal. Logically, Cui Yu should have attacked together and killed Lu Chen in the shortest possible time. This was also Li Shizhi's greatest reliance and backup plan.

Second in the world is more than just a title.

He didn't believe that Cui Yu would betray him, let alone leave for no reason. What was going on?

When Li Shizhi was in a state of panic, a clear and angry voice suddenly came from the palace gate: "Stop!"

All the officials looked in the direction of the voice and were all stunned.

"Old Prime Minister!"

"Old Prime Minister Li is here!"

"Stop it now!"

The guards were all shocked. These young faces turned to look in the direction of the palace gate, only to see the bright afternoon sun pouring in. The light was like a dream, and the thin and old figure looked incomparably tall.

Li Daoyan coughed lightly, then raised his voice and said, "Guardians of the Imperial Guard, Li Shizhi cannot give you wealth and glory. Even if you fight for him until death today, you will not be able to benefit your family members in the end. Instead, they will die without a burial place. Please believe what I say."

Li Shizhi stared at his old father in a daze.

More than ten feet apart, the father and son's eyes met, as if they had thousands of words to say.

Li Daoyan signaled Li Gongxu to let go of his hand, then moved his gaze to the front right.

Under the gaze of civil and military officials, Lu Chen stepped forward, came to the old man's side, and supported his skinny arm.

The two walked slowly forward, and Li Daoyan said softly: "I thought that as long as you left Beijing and returned to Dingzhou, all the troubles would be gone. You are content in the frontier, and let these people check and balance themselves in Jiangnan, maybe we can barely achieve a balance. Today, I know that I was completely wrong. Not only did I let you down, but I also let down the late emperor's earnest expectations."

The old man's tone was relatively calm, but Lu Chen could hear the deep sadness in it. He sighed and said, "Old Prime Minister, I don't mean to force you, but if you don't show up, there will be bloodshed in the end."

"I only feel guilty, how can I blame you?"

Li Daoyan narrowed his eyes and said slowly: "I only blame myself for not raising a good son in my life."

Lu was silent.

"Meet the old prime minister!"

Except for Li Shizhi, all the civil and military officials in the court saluted the old man in unison, while Lu Chen stepped aside to show his avoidance.

Li Daoyan came and stood in front of the emperor, then bowed to all the officials in return.

On the imperial steps, Empress Ning and Li Daoming had already stood up and said with great respect, "Greetings, old Prime Minister."

Li Daoyan looked at the five-year-old prince, a trace of sadness appeared on his old face, and then he said to Queen Ning: "Your Highness is young, I hope the Queen will teach you more."

Queen Ning replied, "Yes."

Such a dialogue was obviously not in line with the relationship between a monarch and his subjects, but no one, whether it was Queen Ning or the officials in the palace, thought it was inappropriate, including the right prime minister Xu Zuo, who had always strictly abided by the rules of the court.

Li Daoyan looked at the Queen Mother who slowly stood up, bowed and said, "This old minister pays respect to the Queen Mother."

"Li Xiangqie, please stop being so polite and stand up quickly."

Empress Dowager Xu was obviously a little nervous and embarrassed. She looked at Feng Jue and scolded, "Hurry up and give Prime Minister Li a seat!"

"No need."

Li Daoyan shook his head and said, "Queen Dowager, I am sorry to have entered the palace today. I just want to say a few words. Please allow me to do so."

Queen Mother Xu said quickly, "Prime Minister Li, please feel free to speak."

Li Daoyan stopped looking at the most distinguished woman in Da Qi. He first glanced at Lu Chen standing beside him, then turned around and looked at the civil and military officials, and said slowly: "Are you all unaware of the chaos today?"

Every minister who was looked at by him could not help but bow his head quietly.

"The emperor was assassinated, the court was shaken, and the people were in panic. These are all normal situations. I cannot be too harsh on you. However..."

Li Daoyan paused for a moment, and said with a complicated expression: "If Lu Chen had not been restrained enough, the Great Qi would have collapsed long ago."

At this moment, Xue Nanting showed a deep sense of guilt on his face, and he said with a folded hand: "Old Prime Minister, I feel guilty for not being able to stabilize the situation in time despite the trust of the late emperor."

"Zhang Xian, you have always been upright and stubborn. Now that you are the left prime minister, if you can still be as tough as before, perhaps the situation would not have come to this. Of course, I know that you have many concerns about the overall situation and all your decisions are not made out of selfishness. The difficulties are hard to explain, and I cannot blame you entirely."

Li Daoyan slowed down his tone and then changed the subject: "But when it comes to selfishness, I'm afraid no one is more selfish than me."

The civil and military officials looked at the old man's thin body and felt a little puzzled.

At this time, Li Shizhi stood there like an outsider, and almost no one paid attention to his expression.

Li Daoyan said bluntly: "In the past ten years or so, some people have been calling me a powerful and treacherous prime minister. Although I feel uncomfortable when I hear such comments, I have to admit that they are right."

Imperial Censor Yao Chong said solemnly, "Old Prime Minister, this is just the slander of fools, how can you take it seriously?"

“Justice lies in the hearts of people, not in the writings of great scholars.”

Li Daoyan took a deep breath and said in front of everyone: "The Jinlin Li family has been passed down for hundreds of years. Although it is a prominent family in Jiangnan, it is far from being the only one that stands out. Since I was appreciated and valued by the late emperor and became the prime minister, my power has increased greatly. The Li family has indeed risen because of this. In just a dozen years, it has become the leader of the Jiangnan nobles. This is all because of my selfishness. Until four days ago, I was still dreaming of a beautiful dream, hoping that the Great Qi would be forever stable and the Jinlin Li family would share the fate of the country."

"Old Prime Minister..."

Lu Chen lowered his voice, looking reluctant.

Li Daoyan rejected his dissuasion with his eyes and continued, "Everyone has selfish desires. I have always taken this as my guiding principle. It was not until I heard the bad news from the capital four days ago that I realized how big a mistake I had made. Because of my selfishness, I almost caused the Great Qi to fall, and hundreds of millions of people suffered. How selfish I am."

The civil and military officials listened in amazement. They could vaguely hear the old man's hidden meaning, but they couldn't believe it. "Father!"

Li Shizhi's eyes turned red, and he said sternly: "The Jinlin Li family's hundreds of years of foundation, are you going to destroy it with your own hands?!"

Li Daoyan turned around and looked at his eldest son. There was not much anger or disappointment in his eyes, only a desolation that was difficult to describe in words.

He said slowly: "Why can't you understand the truth that contentment brings happiness?"

"Why should we be content with what we have? Why can't we just have what we want?"

Li Shizhi stared at his old father almost paranoidly.

"because……"

Li Daoyan laughed at himself and said word by word: "Those without virtue will lose it, and those with virtue will occupy it."

Li Shizhi understood the meaning of this sentence, but he obviously couldn't listen to it at this moment.

Li Daoyan suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Ding Hui, looking at Li Shizhi and said, "You regard the world as a chessboard and all living beings as chess pieces. Have you ever thought that people are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless? I have taught you so many principles, but you only remember the art of intrigue and deception, but ignore the way of human desire. How can you not fail?"

Li Shizhi's face turned pale and his hands trembled unconsciously.

Li Daoyan sighed, stopped looking at him, and said to the tied-up female official, "I remember, your last name is Jin and your name is Qiaolan?"

Faced with this old man who looked harmless, Jin Qiaolan, who had previously accused Lu Chen in front of everyone, suddenly shrank back and nodded obediently.

Li Daoyan asked: "Who sent you to the palace? And who instructed you to assassinate the emperor?"

After hearing these words, almost everyone's heart tightened, and the high and mighty Empress Dowager Xu felt even more nervous.

Jin Qiaolan hesitated a little, looking at the old man's gentle eyes, she finally said with difficulty: "Yes... Minister Li."

Li Daoyan asked again: "Which Minister Li?"

Jin Qiaolan took two deep breaths and raised her voice slightly: "The Minister of Personnel, Li Shizhi."

The officials were in an uproar.

Li Shizhi smiled bitterly.

In fact, by this time, most of the court officials had already confirmed that Li Shizhi was the real murderer of the regicide, but when they heard the old man ask the answer with their own ears, they were shocked and confused beyond words.

Lu Chen took a step forward and held the old man's arm. However, before he could speak, Li Daoyan raised his hand and patted the back of his hand. Then he looked up and said, "Your Majesty, the Jinlin Li family is ashamed of the court. I failed to stop the rebellious son early, which led to the assassination of the emperor and the chaos in the capital. I am ashamed to see the late emperor again. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Empress Dowager Xu finally came to her senses and quickly shook her head, saying, "This matter was done by Li Shizhi and his accomplices. How could it be implicated to Prime Minister Li? If Prime Minister Li had not sacrificed his own relatives for the greater good, I and the officials in the court would have been kept in the dark. No matter who wants to take advantage of this matter, I will be the first to disagree!"

"Thank you, Queen Mother, for sparing my life."

Li Daoyan's eyes were filled with fatigue, and he continued, "I, an old minister, have the guts to make this suggestion. I hope the Queen Mother will approve it."

Empress Dowager Xu said with a little trepidation, "Prime Minister Li, please speak."

Li Daoyan said slowly, "The Queen Mother is old, she should enjoy her family life and not worry about state affairs. Although the Crown Prince is young, he should be fine with the Queen's protection. The court also has important officials such as Duke Qin to assist him, so he is capable of handling state affairs. Does the Queen Mother agree?"

When Li Shizhi's guilt was confirmed, the civil and military officials looked at Empress Dowager Xu with a little more suspicion, because in these short four days, the relationship between Li Shizhi and Empress Dowager Xu was unexpectedly close. Coupled with what Li Shizhi had said before, who would not notice the fishy thing?

In fact, even if Li Daoyan did not mention it, there would be absolutely no possibility for Empress Dowager Xu to continue to act as regent, but he made it more legitimate by bringing it up publicly.

Queen Mother Xu stared down steadily, not at Li Daoyan, but at Lu Chen. Her face turned red and white, and finally she said sadly: "Prime Minister Li's words make sense. How could I not agree, Queen?"

Queen Ning turned around quickly, trying her best to control her emotions: "I am here."

Queen Mother Xu said sadly: "From now on... the new emperor will be entrusted to you."

"Yes, Queen Mother."

Queen Ning bowed.

Queen Mother Xu was so distraught that she went straight to the inner hall without even waiting for the ministers to pay their respects.

Li Daoyan did not try to persuade him to stay. He looked at Lu Chen who had remained silent and said softly, "When this matter is over, please take some time to come to Jinlin."

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Okay."

Li Daoyan then took his tired steps.

"Father!"

Li Shizhi's eyes were red as he stared at Li Daoyan's back.

Li Daoyan's steps slowed down slightly, but he did not stop in the end.

"Ha...haha...hahaha..."

Li Shizhi laughed desperately, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell backwards.

Lu Chen did not look at the defeated enemy. His eyes followed the old man until Li Daoyan walked out of Duancheng Hall and into the sunlight with the support of Li Gongxu.

After walking down the ninety-nine steps slowly, Li Daoyan suddenly stopped.

The young man asked worriedly, "Grandfather, do you want to take a rest?"

"Young fish..."

Li Daoyan spoke in a very gentle tone, raised his head and looked at the sky, and asked: "Do you think that Grandfather lived a life without regrets?"

The young man said without hesitation: "Grandfather is worthy of the court of Great Qi and the people of the world."

“No shame… No shame…”

The old man murmured and repeated, a turbid tear fell down his cheek, and he said slowly: "I hope so."

He continued walking forward, his old body was so frail that he could no longer bear the weight of the vast mountains and rivers.

But he still stood straight, just like he did back then.

……

……

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(Fourth update today, extra update for the leader "You and I are both the nine o'clock sun"! I have been writing from three in the morning until now, I really can't hold it anymore, see you tomorrow~)

(End of this chapter)