The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 373 - 317, The Person Behind the Scenes

Dead... dead...

Under the moonlight, Zhao Douan's mind buzzed, and his thoughts delayed for a moment before he realized what had happened:

"Wang Chusheng? Dead? What happened?"

Chen Hong's face turned pale, he stared at him defensively, his aura weakened as if he had done something wrong, and said:

"It was about half an hour ago, when we suddenly received the news that he died suddenly in prison. It was a prison guard who noticed that he was motionless and came forward to check on him."

Zhao Douan took a step forward, his voice deep, "That's not what I'm asking! How could the man have died?"

His first thought was that the man had been silenced.

At this sensitive juncture, the sudden death of a key witness led him to such speculation.

Chen Hong clearly understood what concerned him and hurriedly explained:

"We had been keeping a tight watch on him. In the prison, he was detained in a separate area. Only strictly screened individuals had access to him, all to prevent any mishaps."

But an accident had happened nonetheless... Zhao Douan stared at him, silent, waiting for more.

Chen Hong continued, "The coroner urgently determined that it was a sudden illness that caused his death quietly, but during the examination, a needle mark was found on his body.

We suspect that he might not have been killed in his cell, but rather in the past few days, during his transport for court hearings, he might have been targeted and poisoned with something that delayed onset...

But this is only speculation."

So many people coming and going during court hearings raised the possibility for someone to act...

Zhao Douan took a deep breath to calm himself.

He closed his eyes, and upon reopening them, he had regained his composure, "What is the situation now?"

Chen Hong quickly responded, "Right now, officials from the Three Legal Departments have been alerted, and Mr. Yuan and others have already gone to the palace overnight, instructing me to inform you."

Zhao Douan laughed out of frustration:

"What good does informing me do? I'm not the chief judge of the case! I brought the man back from miles away, only for him to end up dead!"

Chen Hong stuttered with his lips, explaining:

"After all, you were the imperial envoy who caught him. Now that Wang Chusheng is dead, the entire case is bound to face complications. Mr. Yuan is worried that by tomorrow, rumors of his suicide out of guilt might spread..."

"Alright, let me think!" Zhao Douan gestured with his hand, his fingers pressed against his forehead, pacing in front of his own yard, his mind racing.

The bad premonition had come true.

Recalling their meeting in the afternoon, Chen Hong had said, with Wang Chusheng as the alibi, that all was well, yet just a few hours later, the man was dead.

Zhao Douan couldn't hide his irritation, and more so, his disbelief.

"Has Li Yanfu gone mad? To dare use such means in the Capital?"

Zhao Douan did not understand; this was starkly different from the Prime Minister's usual way of conducting affairs.

Over the past few months of clashes with the Li Party, this veteran of many years in the political arena had shown more "restraint."

Even his actions were within the "rules of the game" played on the political field. Such crude methods as flipping the table outright were indeed hard to imagine.

Perhaps this was the key factor why, despite increased protection by the Three Legal Departments, there had still been a lapse:

No one expected someone to actually dare to commit such a blatant act of silencing!

"Alright, I understand." Zhao Douan took a deep breath and spoke.

He realized that the most urgent issue at the moment was not for him, a now-discharged imperial envoy. Even if no blame could be assigned, it seemed it wouldn't fall on him.

Thus, he could entirely remove himself from the matter.

"Rest well, sir. I must take my leave." Chen Hong was just tasked to inform him and, seeing Zhao Douan's response, he made his leave to handle a pile of matters arising from this upheaval.

...

The same night, at the Prime Minister's Mansion.

As soon as the news of Wang Chusheng's death broke, Li Yanfu immediately received the message.

Now, in the study of the Prime Minister's Mansion, the lights were bright, casting shadows of several figures on the window paper.

"Snap!"

A celadon cup was furiously smashed, whistling past the ear of a middle-aged man standing in the study, hitting the tightly shut door, breaking in two.

The splashed water from the cup wet the man's fine clothes.

The middle-aged man, handsome and dignified looking very scholarly, simply took out a handkerchief and wiped his shoulders and neck.

Calmly looking towards the old man behind the study's long table, showing a displeased face, he softly said:

"Prime Minister Li, calm your anger, it's harmful to your health. If it affects your health, I can't bear the responsibility. When I get home, the old lady will scold people."

Li Yanfu, having thrown the cup, still stood under a large ink painting of a fierce dragon.

The dragon in the painting, like a mighty deity, hung behind the old man in red official robes, his messy beard flared in extreme anger.

"Anger is harmful to the body? Since when has the Shen family cared for this old skeleton of mine? You probably wish I'd die sooner!"

Li Yanfu's gaze was chillingly sharp.

The anger of a powerful minister, although an ordinary mortal, cast a gloomy cloud over the room like dark clouds over the sea.

The atmosphere of a superior person, furious like a stormy sea, pressured the room, making the middle-aged man, and the cautious "Young Master" tucked in the corner, too scared to breathe.

The two men were like ships on an angry sea, constantly at risk of capsizing and overturning.

"Father..." Finally, Li Yinglong mustered the courage to ease the tension, "Brother Shen was just anxious and worried."

Li Yanfu was amused and angry.

He didn't look at his incompetent son next to him, but stared dead at the middle-aged Shen:

"Worried and anxious, so you acted behind my back and killed Wang Chusheng? Just to save your brother-in-law? Do you think I would believe that! Is this the idea of the Shen family, or your own action? Ridiculous!"

The middle-aged Shen remained silent.

The Shen family was a prestigious and prominent scholarly family from Jiangnan in Great Yu, also a powerful family on Jiancheng Road, and they were related by marriage to Gao Lian.

This middle-aged man was none other than the second brother of Gao Lian's wife, the younger brother of the family head of the Shen family, and the second most powerful man in the family, apart from the "old ancestor" and the "family head."

He also represented the Jiangnan group that had hurried to the Capital recently to lobby after the Taicang incident.

Once Li Yanfu heard of Wang Chusheng's death, he immediately thought of him.

Unexpectedly, before sending someone to find him, the man came to visit and readily admitted.

"Prime Minister Li, Your Majesty has only given the Three Legal Departments ten days to investigate and convict. More than half has already passed, and although there has been some success in public opinion both inside and outside the court, with just this, how can Gao Lian be saved?

To overturn the case, Wang Chusheng was the key, and now with him dead, there's room to maneuver..." the middle-aged Shen explained patiently.

Li Yanfu's ashen eyes fixed on him, he said faintly,

"I think you're not trying to save him, but trying to force me."

The elegantly mannered, middle-aged man showed a frightened expression, "I dare not..."

"Haha, I see you all as very daring. Now, one by one, you no longer regard me," Li Yanfu said as if laughing, but with no trace of mirth:

"I have repeatedly said, there is still enough time, just proceed step by step, I still have measures that can postpone the case. By then, when you act, Your Majesty will naturally step back..."

The middle-aged Shen bowed humbly, seemingly subservient but interrupted:

"Prime Minister, you've led the party for so many years, have we ever disobeyed your commands? It's not that we're unwilling, but the current situation is different from before.

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Pei Kaizhi was just imprisoned, and that heart-wrenching new policy is almost knocking on our doorsteps. Now, even my brother-in-law has been imprisoned, regarding the silver mine, he worked so hard, how much did he get? Didn't you also..."

"Shut up!" Li Yanfu suddenly grew furious.

The middle-aged Shen, "eager to make amends," did not delve deeper into the topic and pleaded earnestly:

"Prime Minister, what we mean is, you've managed the cabinet for many years, traditionally we shouldn't complain, but the situation changes day by day, and you are also getting on in years. The court's situation might not be clear to you.

If we keep compromising, we understand it's 'to advance by retreating' for the general good, but this constant retreating, when will it end?

Wang Chusheng's matter was an overreaction from me, but rest assured, since I dared to act, this matter won't implicate others. If His Majesty investigates, let him investigate the Shen family."

Those words were heartfelt, but Li Yanfu only scoffed repeatedly.

How could he not understand? It didn't matter who really killed Wang Chusheng.

What mattered was, outsiders would believe it was done by the Li family.

"...Given the circumstances, the vast Li Party still relies on you, Prime Minister, to be in charge. If you are displeased, just punish me alone. Killing Wang Chusheng was solely my doing, it has nothing to do with the family matriarch," the middle-aged Shen said.

Li Yanfu's face was devoid of any smile.

After staring at him for a long time, he suddenly said, "Prince Jing has approached your Shen family, hasn't he?"

The middle-aged man in fine clothes felt a sudden tightness in his heart, lifted his head, wanting to explain.

But Li Yanfu, tired, waved his hand, saying,

"Get out. I will handle the rest with the Three Legal Departments."

"Thank you, Prime Minister Li!" The middle-aged man's face showed relief as he bowed and took his leave.

Once the man had gone, Li Yinglong, who had been standing in a corner, finally couldn't hold back and stepped forward:

"Father, are we just letting him go?"

Li Yanfu glanced coldly at him, said impatiently, "What else?"

Li Yinglong's expression turned grim:

"Father, the Shen family may already have a double heart. Today they dared to act this way, surely they are backed by Prince Jing, hmph, these ungrateful wretches, they keep talking about how Gao Lian gave silver, why don't they mention all the benefits they received? It's simply..."

At this moment, he acted as a mouthpiece, a stark contrast to his previous friendly "Brother Shen" demeanor.

Clearly, he too was a skilled actor in courtly dramas.

"That's enough, what good does talking do?" Li Yanfu spoke wearily, leaning on the dark brown tabletop and slowly sitting down.

He sighed, "If I had known it would come to this, I might as well have let Gao Lian die in Taicang."

Li Yinglong didn't make a sound, cautiously said, "Then what next..."

Li Yanfu's face expressionless, regained his composure:

"Now that it has come to this, we can only make use of the situation to desperately save Gao Lian. Send the order down, proclaim tomorrow that he committed suicide out of fear of his crimes."

"Yes."

Li Yinglong hurried off.

Once the room was empty, Li Yanfu looked up, staring at the quietly burning flame on the table, with red sparks dancing in his ashen eyes.

After a long while, he let out a long sigh.