Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 47 Li Linfu is a villain
At this time in the Censorate, after some implicit instruction from Li Linfu, Zhang Luo had already known how to make a false accusation in order to increase the damage and get rid of all the male members of the Zhang family who had the right of inheritance.

With his deliberate flattery, Li Linfu felt that he had already grasped this greedy and morally corrupt boy, and they both developed a sense of tacit understanding and mutual respect, and only waited to realize all these ideas step by step.

When the officials came to report that Prime Minister Yuan Qianyao was going to come to the Censorate, Li Linfu was also a little surprised. He felt that this matter was not yet serious enough to alarm the Prime Minister. Only when the young man delivered the speech he had just taught tomorrow would the whole court be truly shocked.

However, since the Prime Minister was about to enter the office, the group had to rush out to greet him. Li Linfu was secretly glad that it was his uncle Yuan Qianyao who came, and not the other newly appointed Prime Minister Li Yuanhong.

He has not yet carefully checked the confession with the young man. If it is Li Yuanhong who comes to ask, he has the "Nanshan Iron Case" deeds. If he finds anything strange or omissions in the young man's answer, he will probably not give up easily and will definitely dig deeper.

But if it was Yuan Qianyao, even if the young man's answer was inappropriate, as long as his words were not favorable to Zhang Shuo, and with his help and supplementary support, the case could be moved forward.

Soon Yuan Qianyao arrived at the Censorate, and all the officials of the Censorate, including Zhang Luo, were led out and stood in front of the door to welcome the prime minister.

"This is Minister Yuan. You have served the court for a long time, are highly respected, and even rank above Minister Zhang Yan. I have also been deeply supported and helped by Minister Yuan. If Mr. Zhang wants to report anything, please report it quickly. I will surely receive a response!"

After Li Linfu finished greeting Yuan Qianyao, he turned back to Zhang Luo and suggested that he could tell them everything they had just planned.

Zhang Luo looked at Yuan Qianyao, who was already quite old but still quite energetic, and a piece of knowledge popped up in his mind.

The position of Shangshu Zuo Chengxiang held by Yuan Qianyao was not actually a prime minister. The Shangshu Zuo Chengxiang was a modification of the Shangshu Zuo Chengxiang and Zuo Pushe, and was merely the head of the Shangshu Province. The Zhongshu Ling and Menxia Shizhong, as well as officials with the third rank of Zhongshu Menxia, ​​Pingzhang Zhengshi or similar titles were the prime ministers.

Yuan Qianyao served as Shangshu Zuo Chengxiang and concurrently served as Shizhong, so he was considered a prime minister. Another prime minister of the same period, Li Yuanhong, was Zhongshu Shilang and Tongpingzhangshi.

Although Yuan Qianyao in front of us is not well-known in later generations, he was the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, second only to Li Linfu, for more than nine years.

While Zhang Luo was reviewing his history, Yuan Qianyao was also observing the young man who had angered the Sage and subsequently disrupted his own daily routine. He asked in a deep voice, "Are you Zhang Yan Gongsun? Who instructed you to send this letter to the bronze box and disturb the Sage?"

Hearing Yuan Qianyao's slightly hostile tone, Zhang Luo's brows furrowed slightly. Like Li Linfu, he was also confused as to why Yuan Qianyao had come here at this moment. Wu Huifei was only favored by the inner palace, so sending eunuchs and palace maids here was within reason, but it was obvious that he could not control the prime minister.

Yuan Qianyao could be considered one of the masterminds behind the attack on Zhang Shuo, with Yuwen Rong and Li Linfu as his followers. This was definitely not a good sign.

However, Yuan Qianyao did have one good point: he was a spineless man who would give in to pressure. Back then, he was recommended for a promotion by his brother-in-law, Jiang Jiao. Later, Jiang Jiao was implicated in the incident of Emperor Xuanzong's dethronement of the empress, and was caned and exiled to death by Prime Minister Zhang Jiazhen. Yuan Qianyao, also a prime minister, was completely unafraid to say a word.

On the contrary, Zhang Shuo, who returned to the court later, felt sorry for Jiang Jiao, believing that Jiang Jiao "had only been a third-rank official and had made some minor contributions. If he was guilty, he should be put to death or exiled", but he should not be flogged and humiliated.

Of course, what Yuan Qianyao called softness was only when he was facing someone with equal power and status. It was obvious that Zhang Luo, a young boy, was not strong enough to flatten or round him.

However, Zhang Luo could just make a big deal out of it and scare him away from intervening, and making a big news was his main goal tonight, so whether Yuan Qianyao came or not would not have much impact on the execution of his subsequent plans.

In a flash, many thoughts flashed through his mind. He first slowly bowed to Yuan Qianyao and then said, "I am ignorant and naive, but I would like to ask, is Lord Yuan a loyal minister or a traitor to the country?"

"How dare you, boy, slander the minister! You are a loyal and good man to the country!"

When Li Linfu heard this, his heart skipped a beat. He leaned over and looked back at Zhang Luo who was bowing behind him, and shouted angrily.

"Since you are a loyal minister to our country, I, the common people, can finally speak freely!"

While everyone was still unaware, Zhang Luo, pushing himself against the ground with both hands, leaped back towards the deserted gate of the Censorate, shouting with all his might, "Li Zhongcheng, you are a villain! I dare to speak to Your Majesty with polite words, begging for mercy for my beloved relatives. Li Zhongcheng has imprisoned me in Taizhong, forced all my subordinates to retreat, coerced and bribed me, and gave me a treacherous plot to falsely accuse my beloved relatives..."

"Nonsense, he's talking nonsense! Come on, quick..."

Li Linfu's eyes bulged at the roar, and he quickly leaped to his feet, pointing at Zhang Luo and shouting angrily, "Central Minister Li promised me that if I followed his will, I would succeed him as Duke of Yan. This is a sinister plot, abhorrent to both humans and gods! You're so eager to cover it up, but what official position did you promise me?"

Some officials from the Censorate rushed forward to grab Zhang Luo, but Zhang Luo dodged around a pillar, continuing to shout, "I am held captive by a powerful force, with no escape. I wish I had no spring to wash my ears. But if I follow their words, then Heaven will not support me, Earth will not bear my burden, Heaven will not tolerate it, and humanity will forsake me!"

"You're framing me, kid!"

When Li Linfu heard these heart-wrenching accusations, he was extremely panicked for a moment. He had not expected that the greedy and morally corrupt boy would be so resolute and resolute. He repeatedly ordered the Censorate to arrest and stop him.

At the same time, Yuan Qianyao saw the farce in front of the Censorate, and his face became quite ugly for a moment. He raised his hand and signaled the guards of the Southern Court behind him to come forward and control the boy.

Although the gatehouse of the Censorate was spacious, Zhang Luo's space for movement became smaller with so many people pouring in. Seeing that he was about to be cornered, he roared again, "You bastards, you want to force me? You're dreaming! I have nothing to lose, but I am a man of integrity. I will not yield even if it means death! You and your fellow officials in the Censorate should speak your mind. If anyone asks you in the future, I will tell the world that my killer is Li Linfu!"

After saying this, he made up his mind, turned around and hit his head on the doorpost of the Censorate. He gasped in pain, felt a shock in his head, a heat on his forehead, blood flowed from his hair, and his body clung to the doorpost and slid down.

"Quick, stop him!"

Yuan Qianyao had not expected that Zhang Shuo's grandson would be so stubborn. He wanted to kill himself by hitting his head against a pillar as soon as they met. He hurriedly ordered the soldiers behind him to step forward and control the young man.

Li Linfu, standing by, also widened his eyes in astonishment. He had never expected such a reversal of events. The young man's scolding resonated in his head like thunder, leaving him completely bewildered. He stamped his feet and shouted, "You accuse me, you accuse me..."

At the same time, Gao Lishi, who was accompanying him, also quickly arrived at the scene. In this chaotic scene, he saw the young man pinned to the ground by the armored soldiers, his face covered in blood. He immediately looked at Yuan Qianyao with his eyes as sharp as knives: "Saint, please ask Mr. Yuan to come in and interrogate the relevant people. How can you say that he killed someone?"

"Duke Bohai misunderstood. It was this boy, this young man, who touched the pillar himself..."

Yuan Qianyao's face was also very ugly at this moment. When he heard Gao Lishi's question, he immediately answered.

"Do you see my backbone now, you bastard? My body is a hundred pounds of flesh, half of it is made of jade bones. I would rather die than surrender!"

Zhang Luo was pinned to the ground by the armored soldiers, and his face was covered in blood, so he did not notice Gao Lishi's arrival. However, he was certain that Prime Minister Yuan Qianyao would never dare to lynch him in the imperial city, so he naturally had to seize the opportunity to establish his own image. Therefore, he still glared in the direction of Li Linfu and roared angrily.

This is not his wishful thinking, but a judgment made after considering various circumstances.

On the one hand, more than a dozen officials from the Censorate who were left on duty went out to welcome the prime minister, and they were all present at the scene. Among them was even Zhang Shuo's followers.

After all, Zhang Shuo was also a big boss who had been in power for several years. He had used censors to attack political opponents many times before. This time he was just caught off guard. After the most dangerous time, although Zhang Shuo was dismissed from his position as prime minister, his followers still attacked each other with political enemies such as Cui Yinfu, which eventually led to Cui Yinfu being dismissed from office and Yuwen Rong being exiled.

Although Cui Yinfu and his allies had the advantage of being proactive and compliant with the emperor's wishes, the end result was a loss for both sides. Even Yuwen Rong's demotion and death several years later were largely due to Zhang Shuo's followers.

Moreover, Li Linfu was no longer the big boss of the court who would rule for more than ten years. He had just been recommended by Yuwen Rong to be the Chief Censor. His influence and control over the Censorate was relatively limited. His previous dismissal of his subordinates to incite Zhang Luo gave Zhang Luo a reason to attack him.

Of course, even if Li Linfu hadn't done this, Zhang Luo would have pointed the finger at him. His intention wasn't to frame Li Linfu, but to exacerbate the situation to the point where the Southern Province couldn't handle it privately and would have to report it to the higher authorities. If Yuwen Rong had been on duty tonight, he would have naturally resorted to a different plan.

As long as the matter reached the Supreme, then he would no longer be controlled by these people. It was good that Wu Huifei could provide timely and effective support in the inner palace. Even if the cooperation was not tacit, now that the matter had reached this point, it was enough to report it to the Supreme.

As for Yuan Qianyao, he was inherently cautious and had little appreciation for Li Linfu. Earlier, Yuan Qianyao had refused to recommend Li Linfu for the position of Palace Attendant in the Southern Province, and it was even less likely that he would actively cause trouble for Li Linfu now.

Zhang Luo had been intimidated and bribed by Li Linfu before, and he was already furious. Now he finally got the chance to vent his anger, and he immediately scolded Li Linfu.

(End of this chapter)