diskusbooks Chapter 216: Arson
Chapter 216: Arson
As soon as Pei Heng left, Liancheng accompanied his sister to look at houses one by one.
Looking at his sister's happy face, Liancheng felt that he owed her a lot.
He understood what his sister felt towards the general.
But the general has already married, and he and his wife live in harmony. Now they have their own children, and their lives are getting better and better.
No matter how much his sister liked the general, he couldn't ask the general to accept her.
He patted Lian Rong's shoulder and gestured:
"It's my brother who has dragged you down. I'm sorry."
Lian Rong smiled with a hint of bitterness and gestured with her hand, "It's not Big Brother's fault. I was willing to go to the mansion with Big Brother to serve the General. Now that I can see that the General is getting better and living a happy and comfortable life, I'm very happy."
"Besides, Madam is so kind to us. If it weren't for her, we would still be doing the lowest jobs in the Marquis' Mansion and being beaten and scolded."
"Brother, look here. From now on, this is our new home. When you marry a wife, I will help you take care of the children."
Liancheng blushed after seeing the gesture.
"What nonsense."
Lian Rong turned her elder brother's body over and said seriously:
"Brother, don't you really know what Miss Songtao is thinking?"
"do not talk!"
Liancheng stopped his sister from continuing.
Song Tao is lively and cheerful, straightforward and good-looking. She is also the lady's personal maid. How can he, who is lame and dumb, be worthy of her?
Lian Rong couldn't bear to see her brother looking so lonely.
She was mute and didn't want to marry. She just wanted to keep her friendship with the general and stay by his side. Now she wanted to stay by his side, and in the future she wanted to stay by his side. This life was enough for her.
But my eldest brother can't do that.
In the past, when the general was seriously injured, the brother and sister wanted only to follow the general, but now it is different.
The eldest brother must marry a good wife and have a lot of children so that the Lian family will have successors.
Thinking of this, Lian Rong decided to help Song Tao.
Su Li and Pei Heng lived a peaceful life in the general's mansion for the time being, but people outside the mansion were in panic.
Since Prince Jing was imprisoned, the purge of Prince Jing's party also began.
For a time, everyone in Shengjing City felt insecure.
Following the Jinyuan Marquis Mansion, Tan Tai Ting was also imprisoned, and Duke Qing was dismissed from all official positions. It was rumored that the emperor was going to revoke his title.
Those who used to be close to Prince Jing are now lying dormant and trembling in the dark, fearing that this fire will burn them.
Just when people were in panic, news came from Prince Jing's mansion that Prince Jing wanted to meet Emperor Jingde.
After many days, Emperor Jingde saw his son again.
At this time, Li Gan was already a commoner. A plain robe hung loosely on his body, and he sat slumped on a chair in the corridor with a haggard face.
As proud as he is, he still cannot accept the fact that he has been demoted to a commoner.
He caused a hysterical scene in Prince Jing's mansion, and even caught and beat up the servants around him. Everyone avoided him and dared not get close to him.
Princess Jing and several concubines
After going crazy, he finally calmed down.
In the past few days, he has been deducing over and over again, and finally realized that the driving force behind this matter was Pei Heng.
Pei Heng always claims that he wants to be a loyal minister and not participate in party struggles, but he is well-connected. Not only has he united the eldest princess and King Kang, he has also won over many forces in the court, including the Ministry of Justice, Duke Yong, Duke Xie, Marquis Yong'an, and Old Lord Sun.
He even suspected that Pei Heng had already defected to King Kang in order to deal with him!
As for when they colluded, he speculated that it was during the assassination at the Ninth Princess's Manor.
Emperor Jingde followed Doctor Fei's prescription for a few days and felt much better.
But the illness came like a mountain and went away like a thread, not to mention that he had experienced his son's betrayal again, which left him mentally and physically exhausted. His health was not as good as before, his body was hunched, his hair was gray, and he looked ten years younger.
He was supported by Shun Dajian and walked in tremblingly. The moment he saw his son, he felt grief and resentment.
"You want to see me, but what do you want to say?"
Li Gan sneered with red eyes, and did not even stand up to greet him. He just sat there slumped in his chair, almost lifeless, and asked:
"Father, don't you find it strange?"
"What's strange?" asked Emperor Jingde.
"hehe!"
Li Gan sneered, "Ten years ago, my eldest brother was accused of treason, and overnight, all the evidence was laid out before our father. And ten years later, I was accused of patricide, and similarly, the evidence was laid out before you overnight."
Emperor Jingde frowned when he heard him talk about the case ten years ago.
"What do you want to say?"
Li Gan knelt on the ground with a thud, hugged Emperor Jingde's feet and cried bitterly:
"Father, don't you think everything is too similar to what it was back then?"
Li Gan did not admit his own sins, but kept leading Emperor Jingde to conspiracy theories.
"Now that the evidence is irrefutable, I, your son, have no way to argue. But Father, why don't you think about who has such great power to unite so many people in the court overnight? Even the people of Prince Heng and Prince Kang have united to fight against me? Father, if you think about it carefully, isn't this person even more terrifying?"
Sure enough, after hearing this, Emperor Jingde's expression began to become uncertain.
Indeed, Prince Jing's crime in this matter was unforgivable. But how could the person who brought him down be underestimated?
Prince Jing's power was so great that he could command the support of hundreds of people in the court. Apart from Prince Jing's followers, almost everyone was on his side. Even more terrifying was that even those loyal ministers who never participated in factional disputes supported him.
Pei Heng!
Emperor Jingde's pupils suddenly contracted.
Seeing Emperor Jingde's expression, Li Gan knew that he had planted a seed of doubt in his heart.
It doesn't matter if he loses today. When the seed of doubt takes root, sprouts, and grows into a towering tree, the person who harmed him will be doomed.
Li Gan had a sorrowful look on his face. He kowtowed three times to Emperor Jingde and sobbed:
"I know my sins are grave, and I dare not ask for forgiveness, Your Majesty. But I cannot bear to see Your Majesty being deceived by some hypocritical villains. Your Majesty, from now on, I cannot serve you. I hope Your Majesty will take care of your health."
Emperor Jingde's mind changed.
Emperors have always been suspicious since ancient times, and now Emperor Jingde is frail and old, making him the most easily influenced.
On the way back to the palace from Prince Jing's Mansion, he kept thinking about it.
After returning to the palace, he stared at the imperial edicts on the table in a daze.
One of them was for Pei Heng.
On that day, Pei Heng asked to resign from all his official positions, handed over his military power, and asked to be stripped of his title in order to save the lives of all the people in Jinyuanhou Mansion.
At that time, he felt that Pei Heng was affectionate and righteous.
Considering that there were very few talented generals among the younger generation of the Daqi Dynasty, Emperor Jingde planned to restore Pei Heng's official position and title once this matter was resolved.
But now he had to think again.
Late that night, a fire broke out in the study of Prince Jing's Mansion. By the time the servants of Prince Jing's Mansion noticed the fire and rushed over to put it out, the fire was already beyond extinguishing.
The fire burned all night, destroying several rooms in Prince Jing's mansion, including the study. At dawn, the fire was extinguished, and people carried out a burnt body from a pile of charred charcoal.
Prince Jing Li Gan set himself on fire.
When the news reached the palace, Emperor Jingde rolled his eyes and fainted.