Return to the Tang Dynasty to be a villain

Chapter 13 Di Gong, I'm here to save you
"This is the fresh fruit of the immortals," Wei Chengqing proudly introduced it to Qin Yi as they entered the prison of the Jishiyuan.

Inside the cell he pointed to, a mortal, shirtless except for his underwear, was tied to a pillar, his legs kneeling on a pile of rubble.

The prisoner carried a wooden plate on his shoulders, on which were several discus.

The cell was very cold, but the prisoner was shaking violently and sweating profusely.

Below the knee and patella, a large patch of bright red blood oozed out on the white underwear.

"This man is Heichi Jun, the son of Heichi Changzhi, Duke of Yan," Wei Chengqing said with a proud smile.

"He's quite patient. He's been subjected to the eighteen strategies of the court official's inquiry, and this former Right Leopard Guard and Left General of the Yifu Palace has endured them all, yet he still refuses to reveal his accomplices."

At this moment, Heichi Jun also heard Wei Chengqing's voice. He turned his head and stared at the other party with eyes that seemed to be spewing anger, still without saying a word.

Qin Yi looked at Heichi Jun's face distorted by pain, and felt heartbroken.

Heichi Jun's father was named Heichi Changzhi. He was originally a famous general of Baekje. After Baekje was destroyed, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

In September of the third year of Yifeng (678 AD), the Tubo Prime Minister Lun Qinling, along with his brothers Zanpo, Xiduo, and Yubolun, led an army of 300,000 to invade the Longyou Road of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Jingxuan, the commander-in-chief of the Taohe Road, led generals Liu Shenli, Wang Xiaojie, Heichi Changzhi, Lou Shide and 18 Tang troops to Dafeichuan (now Gonghe County, Qinghai Province) to attack Tubo.

Because Li Jingxuan was cowardly and did not dare to fight the Tibetan army, the Tang army was trapped by the Tibetans in Chengfengling (now Jingchuan County, Pingliang, Gansu).

Because the Tang army's food supply was cut off by Zanpo's army, the Tang camp was short of food and grass, and the 180,000 Tang army was about to be wiped out.

At this time, Heichi Changzhi led 500 guards to attack the Tubo camp at night, and the Tubo army was thrown into chaos.

Only then was Li Jingxuan able to lead the main force of the Tang army, numbering more than 100,000, and return to Chang'an safely.

In order to commend Heichi Changzhi for his contributions, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, promoted him to the rank of General of the Left Guard and concurrently appointed him as Inspector of the Left Yulin Army.

In July of the first year of Yonglong (680 AD), the Tubo Marshal Zanpo led 30,000 cavalrymen to invade Heyuan (today's Sanjiangyuan area).

Heichi Changzhi led 3,000 elite cavalrymen to attack the Tubo camp at night, beheading 2,000 Tubo soldiers (usually the number of enemies killed was far greater than the number of heads beheaded), and seized tens of thousands of sheep and horses. Lun Zanpo escaped alone and managed to escape.

From then on, because of Heichi Chang's border defense, Tubo no longer dared to harass the Tang Dynasty.

In the first year of Sisheng (684 AD), Heichi Changzhi was transferred to the position of General of the Left Guard, and continued to serve as the Inspector of the Left Yulin Army.

On the fourth day of November of the same year, because Li Jingxuan failed to suppress the rebellion of Xu Jingye in Yangzhou, Heichi Changzhi replaced him as the chief governor of Jiangnan Road and wiped out Xu Jingye in one battle.

However, such a man with outstanding military achievements was falsely accused by Lai Junchen of conspiring to rebel with the Right Eagle General Zhao Huaijie in the first year of Yongchang (689 AD).

Heichi Changzhi could not bear the torture, and was unwilling to follow Lai Junchen's request to frame and falsely accuse others, so he eventually hanged himself in the prison of the Jishiyuan.

Heichi Changzhi's son Heichi Jun had been with his father since he was young. He had made many military achievements and was promoted to the position of Left General of the Right Leopard Guard. However, he was implicated by Heichi Changzhi and was thrown into prison.

Like his father, Heichi Jun would rather die than bite others, so he was tortured in the prison of the Jishiyuan for eight years.

Qin Yi remembered that this iron-willed young general was tortured to death in that year. He was only 31 years old when he died.

The Eighteen Strategies of Inquiry that Wei Chengqing mentioned just now were the infamous eighteen tortures invented by Lai Junchen.

Trying his best to conceal the pain in his heart, Qin Yi tried not to look at the tortured Heichi Jun, and followed Wei Chengqing silently into the depths of the prison.

"This is called the donkey colt."

"This is called Phoenix Drying Its Wings"

"This is called a calf hanging car."

"This is called Tigers and Leopards Playing in Spring"

Wei Chengqing took Qin Yi to each torture room, chattering away as he described the tortures inside.

Inside every torture chamber, there was a scene of horrific suffering.

And in the cell, shrill howls echoed everywhere.

Coupled with the dim light here, Qin Yi felt as if he had come to hell.

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Yi finally endured the torment in his heart and came to the end of the cell.

"Mr. Qin," Wei Chengqing turned and said to Qin Yi, "The person you are looking for is right here."

Qin Yi's heart suddenly started beating wildly at this moment.

The person inside is Di Renjie, the Di Renjie and Di Huaiying who left a mark in the history.

You know, in the era when Qin Yi lived, there were countless film and television works related to Di Renjie.

Qin Yi himself grew up watching "Detective Di Renjie" narrated by Mr. Liang Guanhua.

This TV series is simply a must-watch drama for him every summer vacation, especially the line in it: Yuan Fang, what do you think? It is well-known to everyone.

What does he look like? Does he look like Liang Guanhua or Andy Lau?

Will he be like those prisoners in the torture chamber before, covered with scars and suffering terribly?

With excitement in his heart, Qin Yi pretended to be calm and looked at Wei Chengqing.

"Master Wei, the teacher has instructed me to speak to Master Di alone for a few words."

Wei Chengqing smiled flatteringly and tactfully, then turned and walked out of the prison.

Qin Yi calmed down, straightened his clothes, and then took a step forward to the cell that filled him with anticipation but also fear. The scene before him immediately froze Qin Yi.

The cell was not as miserable as he had imagined. Instead, it was clean, tidy and well-organized.

There was a desk under the window of the cell. An old man wearing a white prison uniform, with his hair combed meticulously, and a face that was a little thin but still energetic, was kneeling in front of the desk.

There was an oil lamp on the table, and the light seemed a little dim. The old man was holding the book in front of him, reading it intently.

"Lord Didi."

Qin Yi called out tentatively, and the old man inside slowly turned his head.

"Has it been Di's time?" There was no trace of fear in the old man's eyes, he looked at Qin Yi calmly.

"Well, if I close my eyes, I'll be able to have some peace and quiet, and I won't have to see these filthy places anymore."

Qin Yi finally confirmed that the old man in front of him was Di Renjie. He was afraid that he had misunderstood him and thought that Qin Yi was the executioner who wanted to take his life.

But only Di Renjie could be so calm and open-minded when facing death.

"Lord Di"

Qin Yi quickly stepped forward and grabbed the prison bars.

He knew that time was running out for him. If Lai Junchen saw Wei Chengqing going out alone, he would probably become suspicious of him.

"My name is Qin Yi, the son of the Duke of Licheng. I'm not here to harm you."

"I know that Lord Di has been framed and thrown into prison, and you are a pillar of the court, the one who can save the country from collapse."

"That's why I pretended to be friendly with the thief, deceived him into trusting me, and ended up in the prison of the Imperial Household."

"I am here only to tell you two things."

"First, I'm here to rescue you. Lai Ni has already agreed to release you. Don't doubt it. This is the result of me lying to him."

"Second, when you go out and see His Majesty the Holy Emperor, don't rush to impeach Lai Junchen. He's just a clown and can't cause much trouble."

"The last thing you want to do is to say these words to His Majesty the Holy Emperor:"

"In this world, we have only heard of sons offering sacrifices to their mothers, but never heard of nephews offering sacrifices to their aunts."

"If a descendant of the Wu family ascends the throne in the future, what status would qualify you to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?"

Qin Yi was afraid that Di Renjie would question him. After all, his words were full of falsehoods and many of them could not stand up to scrutiny.

Di Renjie was so meticulous that Qin Yi knew he would be exposed if he were to question him.

Therefore, he finished speaking in one breath. He knew how crucial his last few words were.

These words were exactly what Di Renjie said in history when Wu Zetian asked him about the succession.

The reason why Qin Yi was so desperate that he asked Lai Junchen to be his teacher was to enter the prison of the Jishiyuan to see Di Renjie and say these words to him.

As for saving Di Renjie?

Stop joking, Di Renjie doesn't need him to save him at all.

In history, after Di Renjie was imprisoned in the Jishiyuan prison, in order to avoid torture, he confessed to all the charges framed against him by Jiang Junchen.

Lai Junchen was naturally overjoyed, thinking that he had made another great contribution to Wu Zetian.

Without bothering to let Di Renjie accuse or frame others, Lai Junchen directly reported his battle results to Wu Zhao.

After all, Di Renjie was the prime minister and a pillar of the country. Wu Zetian naturally felt suspicious when she saw that he had so readily admitted to treason.

So Di Renjie was asked to publicly confess his crimes at the court meeting on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month in the Xuanzheng Hall.

Who would have thought that as soon as Di Renjie arrived at the Xuanzheng Hall, he turned against Lai Junchen in front of all the civil and military officials in the court, saying that his envoy was forced to confess under torture.

Even if the prisoners inside do not die, they will be left disabled.

In order to remain useful and serve the court, Di Renjie pretended to confess, but in fact he did so in order to expose Lai Junchen's crimes in front of His Majesty the Holy Emperor.

The final result of this farce was that Di Renjie was pardoned by Wu Zetian in court, and Lai Junchen was severely reprimanded.

Wu Zetian also developed a grudge against Lai Junchen, and soon had him imprisoned and punished.

Qin Yi knew that if he didn't come to see Di Renjie quickly, this Di Gong would be cleared of his charges.

Once Di Renjie is reinstated, it would be extremely difficult for him to meet the other party given his status.

Then he would not have the chance to say what he just said to Di Renjie, and Di Renjie would not agree from the bottom of his heart that Qin Yi was a loyal supporter of the Li Tang Dynasty.

In this way, when Lai Junchen falls in the future, Di Renjie will not plead for him.

Then the young master who attached himself to the treacherous and corrupt officials and took Lai Junchen as his teacher would naturally not have a good ending.

Qin Yi is here to play the villain. What is a villain?

Naturally, you have to please both sides, jump back and forth, and take every opportunity to climb up.

Only in this way will he have the opportunity to manipulate the government and stir up trouble in the future.

(End of this chapter)