The Condor Heroes: The Quanzhen Sect has produced a vengeful master!

Shi Songzhi was very clever. In the present Song Dynasty, where could he run to?

Besides, if he runs away, all the charges against him will be proven true, and he'll be better off dead than alive.

Shi Songzhi was gambling that Zhao Yun would protect him from death because Zhao Yun needed him.

If Shi Songzhi dies, who will check and balance those civil officials in the court?

If Zhao Yun really does make a bad decision, who will take the blame?

In an instant, Shi Songzhi made a complete decision.

Even after the soldiers surrounded the mansion, Shi Songzhi did not make a move, which surprised many of the onlookers.

Isn't this Minister Shi afraid?

Shi Songzhi was naturally afraid, but he had no choice but to gamble.

in the palace.

The Imperial Garden.

Zhao Yun held fish food in his hand and threw it into the fishpond little by little.

Beside him, the eunuch knelt down silently and held the report above his head with both hands.

Zhao Yun's attendant took the document, checked it to make sure there were no problems, looked at it, then put the document down and came to Zhao Yun's side.

Speak in a low voice.

"Your Majesty, after you issued the decree, Minister Shi has been confined to his home, awaiting Your Majesty's words, and has not acted disobeyed."

Zhao Yun didn't turn around. "Have Zheng Qingzhi and the others arrived?"

"Your Majesty! They have arrived and are in the Yanhe Hall!"

Zhao Yun turned and left the Imperial Garden, heading towards Yanhe Hall. Before leaving, he casually tossed a handful of fish food into the pond.

"What a pity, it can't be used anymore."

Inside the Yanhe Hall, the ministers, led by Zheng Qingzhi, all displayed different expressions upon seeing Zhao Yun.

This time it was about Shi Songzhi.

Some of them kept to themselves, unwilling to offend anyone, while others feared that Shi Song's downfall would implicate them.

Some even wanted to kill Shi Songzhi immediately.

Zhao Yun already had the answer in his heart; these past few years had been the time when his power was most concentrated.

"Your Majesty! This is tantamount to murdering one's own family!" Liu Hanbi, the Left Censor, firmly opposed Shi Songzhi.

"First they disregarded their father's funeral, and now they're trying to poison their own nephew! Your Majesty! Those students are still outside the palace gates!"

"Such immoral acts must not be tolerated!"

But someone immediately objected. "Poisoning? The Dali Temple just took over; they haven't even investigated yet!"

"Don't be too definitive! Besides, Shi Jingqing looks perfectly fine, not poisoned at all!"

Liu Hanbi's eyes widened. "Shi Jingqing has always had a reputation for integrity. Why would he slander his own uncle like this? Isn't he just destroying his own reputation?"

"Besides, I heard that he was saved by Qingyangzi of the Quanzhen Sect, who is quite famous and an upright person!"

"Come on! Can you really believe something from a江湖人 (jianghu person, someone from the underworld)?"

The noise in the main hall went on for a long time, but Zhao Yun did not stop it, only occasionally interjecting with a few words.

Liu Bozheng, the Privy Councilor who signed the document, guessed the emperor's intention and spoke up for Zhao Yun.

"In my opinion, the matter of resuming the mourning period has already aroused public outrage and should not be brought up again. Let's put it aside for now and let Shi Songzhi return to his hometown to observe the mourning period as soon as possible!"

"As for poisoning Shi Jingqing, since he is still alive, there is no conclusion yet. It would be best to hand this matter over to the Dali Temple after Shi Songzhi returns to his hometown!"

When others were arguing, Zhao Yun would chime in.

But when Liu Bozheng said that, Zhao Yun just listened without saying a word.

Now everyone understood what Zhao Yun meant.

He didn't want to kill Shi Songzhi, but therefore he also didn't intend to let Shi Songzhi be reinstated after his mourning period.

Liu Hanbi felt uncomfortable.

He thought to himself that the emperor still didn't trust the civil service and wanted to use Shi Songzhi's life to scare them.

As long as Shi Songzhi is alive, the emperor has every reason to propose his reinstatement at any time in order to restrict them.

Even if Shi Songzhi did not become prime minister, he would still be a political force in the hands of the emperor.

Moreover, Shi Songzhi was the current prime minister, and the Shi family had been prime ministers for three generations. The emperor clearly did not want to bear the reputation of "killing scholar-officials".

Therefore, Shi Songzhi could not be killed.

That's how it was in the Song Dynasty. The phrase "the emperor and the scholar-officials govern the country together" sometimes made the emperor feel constrained.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhao Yun finally spoke.

"Our Great Song Dynasty has a national policy of not killing scholar-officials. Besides, it is still inconclusive whether Shi Songzhi's nephew was poisoned. Let's hand it over to the Dali Temple."

With a casual remark, he essentially set the tone.

This was tough on the students.

They knelt outside the palace gates for two days, only to receive an imperial decree ordering Shi Songzhi to immediately return to his hometown to observe mourning for his father.

The matter of poisoning one's parents needs to be investigated by the Court of Judicial Review. Before that, filial piety must not be neglected. Shi Songzhi is to return to his hometown immediately and is not to enter Lin'an again without an imperial decree.

The imperial edict, several hundred words long, ended up with this kind of outcome.

Zhao Yun was smart; he didn't leave the matter unresolved, but he also didn't let the students have their way with everything.

He remained aloof and only allowed the Dali Temple to investigate, without expressing any opinion himself.

I will not discuss the matter of seizing the opportunity to mourn, and as for the matter of poisoning one's relatives, I neither said it was false nor that it was true.

Now the students had no reason to continue kneeling in front of the palace gates.

They could only put pressure on the Dali Temple.

When Shi Songzhi's residence was sealed off a couple of days ago, everyone was very excited, but when the imperial edict came down, they felt like they had been "deceived".

Shi Jingqing and Wang Jiuling became famous. Any literati and officials in Lin'an who disliked Shi Songzhi praised the two of them.

One acted out of loyalty to his family, the other embodied chivalry.

In just two days, countless people invited the two of them to their homes. Shi Jingqing kept his promise to Wang Jiuling, and Wang Jiuling quickly gained fame in this circle.

At this moment, the two men came out of Liu Hanbi's residence.

Liu Hanbi, as Shi Songzhi's mortal enemy, was very enthusiastic towards the two of them.

At this moment, Shi Jingqing's expression was not good.

"Brother! How could this happen? This is patricide! I will personally testify!"

Beside him, Wang Jiuling sighed.

He's been very tired these past two days. Countless people have come to see him, some out of respect, others out of opportunism, wanting to use him to gain fame.

However, he was not at all surprised by the way the Emperor Zhao handled the situation.

Wang Jiuling patted Shi Jingqing on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Alright! Brother Shi, whether there's evidence or not is up to the Dali Temple to decide; you don't need to worry about it!"

"But...but now the whole of Lin'an is saying that what I said is true!"

"You want me to cooperate with the Dali Temple's investigation? What kind of investigation is that??" Shi Jingqing was very frustrated.

Wang Jiuling smiled but offered no explanation.

Yes, so what if the whole world knows? Emperor Zhao can simply pick it up heavily and put it down lightly, and no one can say anything about it.

Because it's not like he doesn't care.

In any case, whether there is evidence or not, it's up to the Dali Temple to decide. As long as you can't find any fault with it, that's fine.

In fact, Shi Jingqing knew the reason behind it, but he was just shocked by the result and began to doubt his life.

Shi Songzhi committed such a heinous act, and all that talk about going back to his hometown solved the problem???

He cannot accept it.

Unlike Shi Jingqing, Wang Jiuling showed no sign of frustration.

Not at all, because he simply didn't care.

What difference does it make if Shi Song doesn't step down? It's just replacing the powerful minister with another corrupt official.

What does it matter how the Emperor Zhao deals with it? Even if he directly issues an edict to allow Shi Songzhi to continue as prime minister, what does that have to do with Wang Jiuling?

Wang Jiuling never thought that eliminating Shi Songzhi would save the Song Dynasty.

That's unrealistic; the Song Dynasty was utterly corrupt.

As long as it doesn't affect his ability to kill, it's fine.

"Brother Shi, don't be discouraged. I'll give you some good news tomorrow."

The city of Lin'an has been truly bustling these past two days, with countless people discussing Shi Songzhi's affairs.

Late at night, at Shi Songzhi's official residence.

Inside the study, Shi Songzhi sat alone, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

He made the right bet.

He didn't choose to run away; he chose to stay, and the officials truly spared his life.

"I survived! Hahaha!"

In that life-or-death moment, only I could remain so composed!

Shi Songzhi was glad that he was smart, but at the same time he was somewhat frustrated.

From then on, he went from being a powerful minister to a stone in the hands of the Zhao Emperor.

Perhaps when someone in the court is disobedient, the Emperor Zhao would say, "I am worried about the affairs of the country and I miss Shi Songzhi very much. Why not let him be reinstated and return to court?"

This is to deter some people from jumping too wildly.

But that's all there is to it.

With his promising future ruined, Shi Songzhi was so angry he felt like he was about to have a stroke. These past two days, he really wanted to strangle Shi Jingqing with his own hands.

But he couldn't even see the other person.

Without a doubt, his good nephew is probably busy becoming a guest of honor for his political enemies.

"Shi Jingqing! Why won't you die?!"

"And Qingyangzi!! You're the one who deserves to die the most!"

Just as Shi Songzhi was roaring in anger, a voice suddenly came from the doorway of the study.

"It seems you're eager to see this humble Taoist priest?"

(Bonus chapter is here! I've kept my promise to everyone!)