The revitalization of the Tang Dynasty began with the Ganlu Incident.

Chapter 15: False Accusation

As an ambitious emperor who took Emperor Taizong of Tang as his role model, the original owner of this body was unwilling to be controlled by the eunuchs from the moment he ascended the throne.

Therefore, after initially establishing himself, he quickly began to look for candidates to assist him in planning the elimination of the eunuchs.

The Song Shenxi case arose against this backdrop.

The incident occurred in the fifth year of the Taihe era. Song Shenxi, who was then serving as a Hanlin Academician, was valued by the original owner of this body because of his integrity, prudence, and upright conduct.

Therefore, the original owner promoted him to prime minister and gave him instructions in person, instructing him to secretly plan and eliminate the powerful eunuch Wang Shoucheng.

However, what the original owner did not expect was that Song Shenxi was loyal and cautious, but lacked talent and decisiveness.

After becoming prime minister, he secretly plotted but did not take any concrete action.

For this reason, before he could even take action, Wang Shoucheng received a secret report first.

Therefore, Wang Shoucheng took the initiative and devised a plan to falsely accuse Song Shenxi of conspiring with the Prince of Zhang to rebel, and sent hundreds of Shence Army soldiers to imprison Song Shenxi's entire family.

Moreover, after arresting the man, Wang Shoucheng ignored the demands of the high-ranking officials for a public trial and instead conducted the trial and sentencing directly in the inner court.

Ultimately, the Prince of Zhang was demoted and imprisoned, and Song Shenxi was exiled. More than a hundred people were implicated in the case.

Throughout the entire process, Wang Shoucheng made almost no attempt to conceal the fact that this was a case of forced confession, in order to intimidate both the government and the public.

Although this matter had nothing to do with Liu Hongyi, in a sense, the case itself was a triumphant act by the eunuch clique to make an example of someone.

Therefore, his intention in bringing up this case again at this time is definitely not simple.

Li Ang put down the document in his hand, his eyes scrutinizing Liu Hongyi. Then, he waved his hand, signaling Liu Hongyi to continue.

"Your Excellency, I discovered this by chance during the interrogation process. The Song Shenxi case was a deliberate frame-up by Wang Shoucheng."

"The reason he did this was that his advisor Zheng Zhu learned from Wang Fan, who was then the Left Vice Censor, that Song Shenxi had received a secret order to kill Wang Shoucheng..."

As he said this, Liu Hongyi also glanced at Li Ang at the head of the table, seemingly wanting to see how he would react.

However, Li Ang saw through his thoughts at a glance and asked.

"Are you asking whether this so-called secret edict is real or fake?"

Besides being ambitious but incompetent, another characteristic of the original owner was her lack of responsibility.

In concrete terms, from Song Shenxi to Li Xun, although the original owner instructed them to remove the eunuchs, they always summoned them in person and left no written evidence.

The advantage of doing this is that if things are exposed, even if these people claim to have received a secret order, they will be regarded as making baseless accusations. However, the disadvantage is that when it comes to actually taking action, without a real imperial edict, the executors will hesitate.

In fact, this was partly the reason why the Ganlu Incident in history failed.

At this time, Liu Hongyi brought up the Song Shenxi case again, not only to direct the criticism at Li Xun's faction, but also as another test.

"This old servant dares not."

Despite saying that, Liu Hongyi showed no fear on his face, nor did he intend to explain further.

Seeing this, Li Ang shook his head and said, "Wang Shouchang plotted to murder Emperor Xianzong, so he should be executed. There's nothing more to say about that. If I were to die an unjust death one day, I'm sure future emperors would do the same. Don't you think so?"

He didn't deny it directly, because that would be too fake, but he also didn't admit it, because some things, once said outright, would inevitably leave a grudge in the other person's heart.

Therefore, Li Ang did not mention the past, but only talked about the future.

Liu Hongyi's eyes were somewhat complicated, because these words once again confirmed that his and Xue Jiling's guesses were correct.

The emperor was telling them that eunuchs and imperial power were inseparable. As the saying goes, "a new emperor brings a new court," and if the current emperor were to die, these eunuchs from the old era would also face certain death.

Liu Hongyi lowered his head and bowed deeply, his voice low and slow as he spoke.

"Your Majesty, may you live ten thousand years..."

Perhaps at other times, this would just be a routine blessing, but at this moment, it feels more like a statement.

Only then did Li Ang finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Human greed is limitless. Although both Wang Shoucheng and Qiu Shiliang have proven that eunuchs' attempts to trample on imperial power will ultimately backfire.

But at least in their lifetimes, these people held the power of life and death, and enjoyed immense prestige.

There are bound to be many people willing to trade years or even months of imprisonment before their death for decades of absolute power.

Li Ang's confidence lay in the fact that Liu Hongyi and others were already at the pinnacle of their positions. Although they were still subject to the control of the imperial power, their power had almost reached its zenith.

Is it better to risk imprisonment and a violent death in one's later years by using the emperor to command the feudal lords and continue to expand power, or to live a peaceful life within the existing power limits?

The greater their power, the more they will lean towards the latter.

What Li Ang could do was to keep increasing the stakes in the latter, rebuilding trust between the eunuchs and the imperial power.

At this moment, Liu Hongyi's words signified that both sides had taken the first step.

But that wasn't enough, so Li Ang immediately turned his attention back to the list in front of him.

"I just heard you say that the Song Shenxi case was caused by Zheng Zhu and Wang Fan informing on him?"

Liu Hongyi nodded, then took out a prepared statement and cupped his hands, saying, "Please take a look, everyone. This is Wang Yuanyou's testimony."

"He was a close confidant of Wang Shoucheng back then and participated in the interrogation of Song Shenxi. He can testify that the case was one in which Wang Shoucheng forced a confession under torture, and that many of the pieces of evidence presented were fabricated."

Li Ang quickly took the testimony into his hands and began to read it carefully.

This case was considered a major case during the reign of Emperor Wenzong, but it was far less famous in history than the Ganlu Incident. Therefore, he had only heard some of it and did not know the details.

As for the original owner's memories... after Song Shenxi was arrested, the original owner never saw him again, and everything she knew was relayed from her, with many details that even she was unaware of.

At this moment, Liu Hongyi continued.

"Everyone, this testimony relays Song Shenxi's actual confession during his trial."

"According to the testimony, Song Shenxi was upright by nature. After becoming prime minister, he was determined to eradicate the practice of bribery. At that time, Zheng Zhu was under the protection of Wang Shoucheng. Those who sold official positions and titles throughout the court all went through his connections."

"Therefore, Song Shenxi promoted Wang Fan, who was then serving as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and appointed him as the Prefect of the Capital and concurrently the Grand Censor, to secretly investigate Zheng Zhu's bribery and sale of official positions."

"But Wang Fan was afraid of Wang Shoucheng's power and hesitated to take any action. Song Shenxi was angered by this and demoted him to the position of Vice Censor-in-Chief. Wang Fan held a grudge and handed over all the evidence in his hands to Zheng Zhu."

"But at that time, Song Shenxi was already the prime minister, and Zheng Zhu, a mere staff member, could not resist him. So, he fabricated a lie, saying that Song Shenxi had received a secret order and was preparing to secretly kill Wang Shoucheng."

"Upon learning the news, Wang Shoucheng was furious and immediately instructed Doulu Zhuo, the commander of the Shence Army, to falsely accuse Song Shenxi of colluding with the Prince of Zhang to rebel."

"This is the whole story of the case. We would appreciate your guidance on how to handle it."