novelSusiti Chapter 102: The Storm Is Brewing
Chapter 102: The Storm Is Brewing
As he sent someone to summon Li Deyu and the others, Li Ang rubbed his temples and remembered something else.
"I instructed you to investigate this matter separately. What were the results?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Baozhen lowered his head and presented several more secret letters, saying...
"To everyone, these are the responses from several people. The content is not significantly different, but..."
After a slight pause, Qi Baozhen pointed to the last secret letter and said, "These days, as you all instructed, I have been secretly sending people to keep an eye on them. I discovered that just yesterday, before the secret letter was presented, Commander Li Shengrong sent someone to Guo Zhongwen's residence secretly."
"Good, very good."
Li Ang was already in a state of agitation with nowhere to vent his anger, and upon hearing this news, he felt a surge of rage rising within him, and said...
"I didn't expect that even after Ximen Jixuan's lesson, someone would still dare to act so recklessly. You should immediately send someone to the Eastern Depot to find Ximen Jixuan and have him bring Li Shengrong to me. Oh, and have Wang Wengan come along as well."
"Yes..." Qi Baozhen naturally knew the Emperor's mood at this moment, so he didn't dare to delay and hurriedly went to make arrangements.
About half an hour later, a eunuch came to report the news, and then Qi Baozhen stepped forward and said.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, Prime Minister Li Deyu, Governor Liu Hongyi, and Yang Qinyi have all arrived. Prefect Xue Yuanshang of the Capital is far away, but he should arrive in about half an incense stick's time."
"In addition, the eunuch Ximen Jixuan, the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, has been ordered to bring Commander Li Shengrong outside the palace. Commander Wang Wengan is also waiting outside the palace for a summons."
Upon hearing this, Li Ang opened his eyes and said, "Have Li Deyu and the others wait in the side hall. You go there yourself and give the results of your investigation into Li Shengrong to Ximen Jixuan and Wang Wengan. Tell them that I have given them half an hour to find out what I want."
Upon hearing this, Qi Baozhen was immediately startled and quickly realized that his young master was truly angry. He hurriedly bowed and agreed.
In the side hall, Li Deyu, Liu Hongyi, Yang Qinyi and others received a message from the eunuch that Xue Yuanshang had not yet arrived and asked them to wait for the time being. So they sat down, but their expressions inevitably showed some unease.
"It's so late, what could it be about that the Sage has summoned us?" Yang Qinyi asked first.
While the shift from inner court official to outer court official certainly expanded one's power and status, it also meant a decrease in sensitivity to information about the inner court.
However, Yang Qinyi still had a keen political sense, especially when he saw that the people from the Eastern Depot had been summoned, but only Ximen Jixuan and Wang Wengan came.
It should be noted that Ximen Jixuan, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Depot, was Liu Hongyi's man, and the other two commanders were recommended by him.
If someone gets into trouble, he'll probably be implicated to some extent, so naturally he'll feel uneasy.
"A sudden summons at this time must mean something important." Liu Hongyi remained calm and quickly replied, but it was clearly a pointless statement.
Li Deyu, however, frowned and pondered for a while before saying, "Besides summoning us, His Majesty also summoned Xue Yuanshang, the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. Judging from this, it is most likely related to the thorough investigation of private loans in the military. Could it be that the Eastern Depot has uncovered some major case that has alarmed His Majesty?"
It must be said that Li Deyu was a smart man; he guessed most of the story just from the people he summoned.
"Private loans within the military?" Liu Hongyi quickly nodded and said, "That's possible. But I wonder what kind of major case could cause such a commotion. The Emperor summoned us at this time; he must be truly angry."
As he spoke, he turned to look at Yang Qinyi. A hint of worry flashed in both of their eyes. The reason was simple: since it was a case related to private lending within the military, the responsibility would most likely fall on their shoulders.
After all, over this period of time, many military officers who broke the law were actually protected by them. Some of them were their confidants, and some were people from various factions in the court who came to plead for them. If any of these people really committed a crime that angered the emperor, then those who mediated between them would probably be punished.
With so little information at hand, the three of them couldn't deduce anything else, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment.
In the midst of this quiet, a slightly noisy sound seemed to faintly drift from the adjacent palace.
This immediately made the group more uneasy and tense. Li Deyu beckoned to the eunuch serving him to come forward and asked.
"What's going on next door? Why is there such a commotion in the palace at this hour?"
The eunuch was just an ordinary servant, and upon hearing this, he dared not answer. He only said, "Reporting to the sir, the eunuch Ximen and Commander Wang are next door. We don't know what they are doing."
do not know?
Li Deyu frowned, turned to look at Liu Hongyi and the other man, and asked.
"Since we were summoned together, and we're just waiting here anyway, why don't we go and see what's going on?"
Liu Hongyi and his companion were also frustrated by the lack of new information at the moment, and they wanted to ask Ximen Jixuan and the others for some information, so neither of them refused.
So, a short while later, the three of them arrived at the door of another side hall.
However, the further they went, the more alarmed they became by the sound.
Although the sound was unclear, one could sense the pain in it, as if the person making the sound was enduring some kind of torture.
Across the courtyard gate, several guards suddenly reached out and blocked the three people's path.
"Please stop here."
Li Deyu frowned, immediately becoming somewhat displeased, and said, "Do you know who we are?"
The guard bowed and said, "Lord Li, Governor Liu, Governor Yang, a case is being heard inside. His Majesty has decreed that no one may enter without an imperial order."
At this moment, Liu Hongyi also recognized the person in front of him: "Lin Ke, is that you?"
Upon hearing this, the guard clasped his hands in a salute again and said, "Greetings, Commander."
But other than that, he didn't say another word.
Liu Hongyi immediately understood and said, "Let's go..."
Yang Qinyi tilted his head and gave him a questioning look, so Liu Hongyi whispered.
"This man was originally a captain in the Left Army of the Shence Army. At that time, I was ordered to transfer people from the Left Army to form the Eastern Depot, and he was one of them. Since he is guarding here, it means that there are some things that we should not ask too much about. Let's go."
Li Deyu naturally heard these words as well, and the three of them quickly reached an agreement.
After all, they just wanted to gather more information so they could be more composed when they faced the enemy later, and they had no intention of taking any risks.
And so the three returned to the side hall to continue waiting. Not long after, Xue Yuanshang, the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, also rushed over.
Once everyone had gathered, the eunuchs serving nearby naturally rushed to report, but strangely, Li Deyu and the others waited and waited in the hall, but were never summoned...