Zhuo Buyi accompanied Fang Jie on foot all the way back. From time to time, he would encounter patrol officers and soldiers armed to the teeth on the street. Although Prince Yi's case seems to be over, the atmosphere in Chang'an City is still tense. It can be seen from the number and frequency of officers and soldiers patrolling the city that the impact of this case is far from over.
"You are the luckiest young man I have ever seen."
As Zhuo Buyi walked, he couldn't help but admire: "It took less than two years, and before I graduated from the Yanwu Academy, I was already named a fifth-grade ranger general, a first-class countryman. It has been more than a hundred years since the founding of the Sui Dynasty." You're the first one. What's strange to me is that when I first met you, I didn't think you were outstanding. Compared to the people around you, you are only a year old. , has made such great progress?¡±
Fang Jie smiled and said: "It would be too shameful for me to say it was luck, so I firmly believe that I have the strength to match what I have now. If you insist on saying that I am lucky, then it means that Your Majesty The vision is not good.¡±
"Bah"
Zhuo Buyi rolled his eyes at him: "Are you going to use Your Majesty to suppress me?"
"When you first entered Chang'an City, no one would have thought that you could get up so quickly. In addition to your own efforts, you caught up with a good time."
Fang Jie knew that Zhuo Buyi was right and that he had indeed caught up with a good time. First of all, it was because Huaiqiugong was too old and the court needed it. Your Majesty needed a new person from a poor family to become a new role model. So it didn't take much time from the moment he entered the emperor's sight until the emperor decided to pick him up. Although there were some ups and downs, overall it did not affect the results.
The second is Prince Yi¡¯s rebellion, which is not a good thing for the court, the Sui Dynasty, or the emperor. But for Fang Jie, this was really not a bad thing, because of this case, the emperor began to trust him more and more. Not only that, he also made Wu Yiyi feel moved towards him because of this incident.
It is undeniable that if it were placed in a period when nothing major happened, Fang Jie would never have climbed to the current height so quickly no matter how hard he worked.
Before he was seventeen, he had already been made a viscount.
Without military exploits, this kind of thing is almost impossible to happen. But he got it, and much more.
The most exciting thing is that the emperor deliberately let him enter the East Palace. This is even more enviable than the reward of a first-class country boy and a fifth-grade general.
"Actually, I always thought after Hou Wenji defected, His Majesty would hand over the love office to you."
Fang Jie said seriously.
Zhuo Buyi shook his head: "Your Majesty does have this intention, but I will never set foot in the officialdom. It is better to have no status than to have one, at least for me. For example, in a scene like today, you can see that I agree. Say a word to those people? My temperament is not suitable for fighting with others, let alone being exposed in public. "
Fang Jie said in confusion: "But if you take over as the envoy of Qingya Town, wouldn't it be a good thing for the Imperial Guards Department?"
"It's easysometimes your thoughts are as simple as a child's."
Zhuo Buyi sighed and said: "Although His Majesty said that he wanted me to take over as the governor of Qingya Town, that is a decision he would never make. Commander Luo and Hou Wenji seem to be inseparable, but in fact no one is Who do you trust? But this is the safe situation that Your Majesty likes. How could Your Majesty hope that the relationship between his ministers is too close? The relationship between me and Commander Luo is too close. If I take over as the envoy of Qingya Town, Your Majesty will not be relieved."
"Your Majesty brought it up just to let me know that he has no doubts about me."
Fang Jie was startled, rubbed the corners of his frowning eyebrows and said, "I did drink too much today, and my brain is getting stupider."
"Because of Prince Yi's case, there are too many people involved. So many that you can't imagine it. You don't even know how many aristocratic families behind the scenes are taking action for this matter. There are so many people involved in this case. Nine out of ten of those courtiers are from famous families, and such a big case of rebellion will involve the nine clans!"
"In the past month or so, more than 30,000 heads have been chopped off at Caishikou, but the scope has been controlled very cleverly. His Majesty did not make concessions to those famous families, and of course he did not let those families suffer. At this time, Your Majesty does not want to fight with Those people have fallen out. Once they go to the west again, the imperial court cannot do without the support of those families. "
"You might not believe it if you tell me"
Zhuo Buyi shook his head and said: "Now there are actually people begging for mercy, hoping that your majesty can spare Prince Yi's life."
"How can this be?"
 Fang Jie frowned and said: "If such serious crimes can be pardoned, the laws of the Sui Dynasty will become child's play."
Zhuo Buyi said: "Do you think those who begged for mercy don't know that this is impossible? The reason why they begged for Prince Yi was actually to force His Majesty to let go of some people involved in the case. It is impossible for His Majesty to let Yi go. Prince, we can't be too stiff with so many aristocratic families, so we have to take a step back. Those aristocratic families support your majesty in executing Prince Yi, but your majesty will also give them some face."
"Headache!"
Fang Jie rubbed his forehead: "With so many people and so many things involved, I'm afraid His Majesty's head will hurt even more."
"Your Majesty is not without courage."
Zhuo Buyi sighed and said: "It's a pitythis period is really uneasy. The imperial court is about to launch a second Western Expedition, and the money and food in the national treasury may be enough in a short time, but if the time drags on for a long time, the only option is to Relying on the donations from those aristocratic families His Majesty will never increase taxes on the people unless it is absolutely necessary."
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The secret prison of the Ouchi Guards Office is actually divided into three floors. The first floor is on the outermost perimeter. Although the prisoners are also serious criminals, they are not worth mentioning compared to the prisoners in the two floors of prisons inside. The jails of the Ministry of Punishment are not tight enough, so many Jianghu people with good cultivation who have violated the law will be transferred to the Ouchi Guards Office.
The secret cell where Fang Jie was originally imprisoned was on the second floor.
After returning from Mercury Tower, Luo Weiran habitually went to the third floor to check. Since the two important figures were imprisoned in the third floor, he has to patrol here at least three times a day. Starting from entering the second level, the intensity of the guards has increased significantly.
A large number of flying fish robes stood straight on both sides of the secret passage holding the hilts of horizontal knives. Even if a mosquito flew through here, it would be impossible to escape. Moreover, there are a large number of mechanisms installed in this secret passage. If anyone really breaks through the cage, he will be overturned by the mechanisms in the secret passage. There are also three consecutive 10,000-pound gates. Even after the heavy iron gates are lowered, the gods cannot fly out.
Even though it was so strict, Luo Weiran still couldn't completely rest assured. Because the people imprisoned in the third floor at this time are too important.
The special prison in the innermost place contains Xiao Yijiu, the headmaster of Qingle Mountain Yiqiguan. This person's cultivation has exceeded the limitations of people's thinking, and the methods used to trap this person have reached the point of using all possible means. Not only did he use golden needles to seal his 128 air pockets, but he also used iron hooks on giant chains to hook the bones in his body. As long as he exerted force, those iron hooks would crush his bones. cut off.
Opposite Xiao Yijiu¡¯s special prison is an equally solid stone room. It's just that the person imprisoned here at this time is not sealed by various means like Xiao Yijiu. Except for the shackles on his ankles that make it somewhat inconvenient for him to move, he has no shackles on him.
The layout of this stone room is extremely simple, just like the one where Fang Jie was trapped. There was only one chair and a stone bed.
Luo Weiran walked to the door of Xiao Yijiu's cell and looked inside through the bars. The disheveled Xiao Yijiu was hanging with his head hung by an iron chain, and he didn't know whether he was asleep or deep in thought. But since he was imprisoned a while ago, his spirit has become worse and worse. From time to time he would go crazy and say some random and irrelevant things.
After reading Xiao Yijiu, Luo Weiran walked to the prison door opposite.
The middle-aged man in the stone room, although he was wearing prison clothes and had shackles on his feet, standing in the room with his hands behind his hands and looking at the bare wall, he still had a bit of a kingly demeanor about him.
Prince Yi, Yang Yin.
Hearing the footsteps, Yang Yin turned around and looked towards the iron door window. Seeing it was Luo Weiran, he immediately nodded slightly. Luo Weiran also nodded and said nothing.
"I have something to ask you."
Yang Yin was silent for a while and asked: "How many people have died because of me?"
"Thirty-one thousand six hundred and forty-six people."
Luo Weiran answered.
Yang Yin¡¯s expression changed slightly, and he slowly shook his head: ¡°No one advised the emperor?¡±
Luo Weiran looked at him, still ignoring him.
"He's too cruel. Although I knew from the beginning that Fourth Brother was the coldest and toughest among our brothers, I still didn't expect that he would actually kill so many people. Those are his people, doesn't he feel sorry for them? "
Luo Weiran couldn't help but sigh: "Why don't you blame yourself? But you still blame others?"
"I?"
Yang Yin was startled for a moment, then smiled self-deprecatingly: "Yeah If it weren't for me, so many people wouldn't have died. After all, no matter how cruel the fourth brother is, if it hadn't been??I, he won't kill people for no reason, right? "
After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked: "Can you let me meet my fourth brother?"
Luo Weiran shook his head: "His Majesty's decree is that you are not allowed to step out of this prison before the case is concluded."
"help me!"
Yang Yin took a few steps forward, Tie Liao scraped against the ground and made a splashing sound: "It's impossible to kill so many people. If those aristocratic families are touched, it will not be a good thing for the Sui Dynasty! I must see four I have to see His Majesty, just kill me quickly and don¡¯t involve anyone else!¡±
"If I had known today"
Luo Weiran sighed softly: "If you were thinking about the Sui Dynasty, you wouldn't do anything rebellious."
"Those are two different things!"
Yang Yin raised his head and said: "I became emperor, so naturally I still think about the Sui Dynasty!"
"You're not awake yet?"
Luo Weiran looked at Yang Yin and said word by word: "Actually, you have no chance of winning from the beginning to the end, and you know this. It's just that you have paralyzed yourself, as if you drank a special poison. You lied to yourself After all these years, it¡¯s time to wake up?¡±
Yang Yin was stunned, and his shoulders trembled obviously.
"I will lose from the beginning?"
He murmured, then took a few steps back and sat softly on the chair: "Yes I have always told myself that I will definitely win. But in the deepest part of my heart, there is always a voice shouting ¡You can¡¯t win!¡±
He raised his head and begged: "I want to see the Queen Mother and also want to say a few words to Your Majesty."
Luo Weiran still shook his head, and then turned around: "You are too self-centered, and you still don't have any awareness even now. Even if you meet His Majesty, what can you do?"