Insufficient balance

  Li Shouyi actually dared to write Xue Chongxun's case into a memorial and submit it. Memorials are generally about major events such as national affairs and people's livelihood, or discussing national policies and grand strategies, or specific major events such as droughts and floods, tax increases and decreases... A criminal case, actually directly speaking to the emperor, what are those high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Censorate doing? If someone else handled the case like this, it would be equivalent to offending a large number of people. However, Li Shouyi did it, and everyone was too lazy to bother with him, he's just that kind of person, who doesn't know how to adapt and must make a big deal out of everything.

  Emperor Li Dan only took a glance and didn't care about the case itself, seeing that it involved court officials, he followed the usual procedure and sent the memorial to the Imperial Censorate for handling. The attending censor of the Imperial Censorate saw that it was related to Taiping Princess's family and felt a bit uneasy... Finally, someone remembered their former superior, Xiao ZhiZhong!

  Xiao Zizhong used to be the Vice Censor-in-Chief, and now he has become the Chancellor, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and the co-administrator of the affairs of the Central Secretariat. During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong, Crown Prince Li Chongjun launched a coup but failed. Someone told Emperor Zhongzong that Princess Taiping was also involved in the plot. Xiao Zizhong advised, "Your Majesty has the wealth of the four seas, can't you tolerate one brother and one sister?" Therefore, he had a close relationship with Princess Taiping, and now he often went in and out of her residence. The Attendant Censors privately communicated with Xiao Zizhong to see his attitude, which made it easier to handle this matter. Moreover, the Chancellor is the chief official among the hundred officials, and it is not improper for officials to discuss matters with the Chancellor.

  Xiao Zhizhong listened to this and quickly said: "When you report this matter to the Emperor, he will probably ask first: Has Taiping been asked? Has Sanlang been asked? So I think you should ask the Crown Prince first, and then there's no need to do anything else. Just report the opinions of the Crown Prince and the Princess to the Emperor... As for the Princess, it's not necessary to ask her, Wei Guo Gong is the son of the Princess, would a mother want others to search her son's house without cause?"

  The official thought so and acted accordingly, but this matter had been delayed for several days before it was reported to the emperor again. Poor Li Shouyi's men had been watching around Xue Chongxun's mansion for several days without any news or results.

  Things turned around, and he also asked Li Longji. Gao Lishi also figured out the process of the imperial historians' actions, guessing that it was time for the imperial historians to report back to the emperor. He quietly sought opportunities to stay by the emperor's side. As an official, Gao Lishi was a regular attendant at court and often accompanied the emperor, so this wasn't difficult.

  Gao Lishi thought: Since Li Shouyi wants to take the lead in capturing the murderer, he might as well help him. The mastermind behind the murder of his cousin was naturally Xue Chongxun, but Gao Lishi also hated the Xue family slave who personally took action to kill, and letting her die would slightly alleviate his hatred.

  Two days later, Li Dan met with the Shiyushi in the Linde Hall because he had just held a banquet here and hadn't left yet. At this time, the Linde Hall also had an informal function for receiving officials. At this time, Li Dan's interest was very high, the dancing girls at the banquet were as beautiful as flowers, their dance moves were elegant and charming, watching them was truly a great pleasure, so much so that after the banquet he still couldn't bear to part with it.

  What a joyful banquet, what a delightful scene. As the master of Daming Palace, life is rich and colorful. Li Dan not only likes the banquets in Linde Hall but also enjoys sitting on the high dragon chair in Hanyuan Hall to watch the magnificent scene of "thousands of officials looking at Chang'an, tens of thousands of countries worshipping Hanyuan".

  Exalted status, rich life, broad mind, this is the feeling of being an emperor... However, Li Dan's heart was filled with reverence and terror for this chair. In his lifetime, he had experienced more than a dozen bloody coups, weren't they all fighting for this position? The road to the throne was not paved with red carpet, but with fresh blood!

  In short, if you don't want to lose the throne, power must still be grasped in your hands. So Li Dan would always regularly inquire about major court affairs, and after today's banquet he had some free time, so he received several ministers in Linde Hall.

  The Supervising Censors of the Office of the Imperial Censor also had an audience with the Emperor at this time.

  As expected by Xiao Zizhong, after Li Dan heard the report from the attendant censor, he first asked: "Have you asked Taiping?"

  The imperial historian replied: "To respond to Your Majesty, the princess thinks that the Duke of Wei is a senior minister of the court and also a close relative of the emperor, so he should be treated with dignity and cannot be insulted by officials at will."

  Li Dan nodded and asked: "Does Sanlang know?"

  Yu Shi Dao said: "The Crown Prince is in charge of the country, and it's natural to report to the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince said that if the government is clean and fair, rewards and punishments should be clear-cut regardless of kinship. If Wei Guo Gong has suspicions, he should be investigated impartially... But major military and national affairs, appointments of officials above the fifth rank, and important criminal cases still require the Emperor's decision. Wei Guo Gong is the Minister of Rites, and the Crown Prince has no right to issue orders for rewards and punishments."

  Li Dan hesitated, still wavering. At this moment, Gao Lishi beside him said softly: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Wei has suspicions, if you don't investigate, the suspicions will not be cleared up, and it would be unfair to let it go."

  Gaoli said, although not loud, but Li Dan heard clearly. He hesitated again and thought Gaoli's words were reasonable too. So he told the imperial historian: "Let the imperial historian follow Li Shouyi to investigate whether the suspect is really in the Weiguo Gongfu. Xue Chongxun is my nephew, tell him to pay attention to etiquette."

  ……

  Xue Chongxun felt extremely surprised upon learning of the emperor's edict, and immediately thought to himself: The current emperor is indeed a wishy-washy person; if I were to pin my hopes on him, I'd probably die in vain...

  "Lang Jun, something bad has happened! Li Shouyi that old man is shouting outside, if we don't open the door he'll forcefully enter and search the mansion, saying it's an imperial edict from His Majesty." Jixiang rushed in flustered.

  Xue Chongxun frowned and said: "Call someone to open the door..."

  Ji Xiang got the message and ran to the gate, passing on the order to open the gate. The servants of the Xue family were all standing at the gate, arrayed in a strict formation. The yamen runners and soldiers outside were also watching with piercing eyes, the atmosphere was already extremely tense, what etiquette could be spoken of?

  "Enter the mansion and search carefully, don't miss a single corner!" He shouted and deliberately gave a signal to one of the guards beside him. However, the guard's gaze intentionally avoided his, with a hint of fear in his expression.

  This person is a slave of the Feng Mansion, and he saw San Niang on the day of the incident. Li Shouyi found him to identify the person, but he was very afraid of Xue Chongxun, so he reluctantly agreed to disguise himself as a soldier and quietly identify the person.

  Li Shouyi led his men into the mansion and assigned them to search every corner of the Xue estate, with two teams covering each area. Meanwhile, Ji Xiang, Xue Chongxun's attendant, was running back and forth, constantly reporting the situation to Xue Chongxun.

  Xue Chongxun's heart also started to feel anxious, mainly because he had not expected the emperor to issue such an edict. As soon as he received the news, Li Shouyi was about to enter the mansion to search it, and Xue Chongxun basically had no preparation at all.

  The Xue Mansion is already surrounded, now letting San Niang run out is jumping into the net. However, the Weiguo Gong Mansion is so small that it can't be compared with the vastness of the Zhen Guo Tai Ping Princess Mansion, where can people hide?

  San Niang had already been called over by Pei Niang, who was sent by Xue Chongxun, and was now standing beside him. Seeing Xue Chongxun pacing back and forth with a furrowed brow, San Niang herself remained calm, only speaking in her hoarse voice: "Lang Jun has already done his best, I have no regrets seeing Lang Jun worry about me like this. Why not just hand me over directly? Anyway, there's nowhere to go, and it would avoid the humiliation of running around in hiding."

  "Lang Jun, Lang Jun! The official has already passed the corridor and will see us as soon as he enters the gate!" Ji Xiang shouted while running under the eaves.

  At this time, San Niang's pale face actually showed a smile. Having known her for so long, Xue Chongxun still saw her smile for the first time, yet it was in such a precarious and disheveled situation. Xue Chongxun was at a loss for what to do, and casually asked: "What are you smiling about?"

  The third daughter smiled and said: "I laugh at Young Master Lang's current appearance..."

  Perhaps it was San Niang's smile that pained Xue Chongxun's inner heart, and now he had a strange feeling, extremely reluctant to lose her.

  Actually, San Niang wasn't that important to him. But as a human being, how can one be completely heartless? Xue Chongxun didn't have time to think about why he was feeling this way now, maybe it's because he owed her a favor? Human psychology is really hard to grasp: if someone does you a favor, you feel indebted and uncomfortable; on the other hand, if you do someone a favor, that person feels close to you.

  Or was it sympathy for her circumstances and experiences? Anyway, Xue Chongxun didn't understand, nor did he have the time to think about it.

  "Mr. Lang, they have arrived at the door!"

  At this time, San Niang was still standing in front of Xue Chongxun's door and had not started hiding.

  The third daughter said, "I have poison in my teeth, and as long as I bite down, it will be all over. I won't say anything else. We don't need to struggle in vain... Let me remember your kindness, so that I can die a little more comfortably."

  Is Xue Chongxun really good to her? Then who is responsible for the desperate situation she is facing now?

  "No!" Xue Chongxun said resolutely, "One can't just follow fate! Come with me." He didn't care about anything else and grabbed San Niang's hand, pulling her into the room.

  The first time he held her hand, it was really extremely cold. Xue Chongxun couldn't understand why a living person would have hands as cold as a ghost's.