Chapter 4759: Get to the bottom of it

Chapter 4759: Get to the bottom of it
Seeing Ma Zhou's rapid and skillful expression change, Fang Jun sneered: "You have thick eyebrows and big eyes, and you act like a loyal minister all day long, but it turns out that you can also change your expression as skillfully as turning the pages of a book. It can be seen that you are not a good person either."

Ma Zhou disagreed: "What does this have to do with being a loyal minister? Someone has died, and we are showing our condolences out of courtesy. Don't judge others by your own standards."

The two were whispering to each other when they saw that King Han Li Yuanjia had led a large number of officials from the Zongzheng Temple into the gate, and even Li Xiaogong came alongside them... They quickly stopped talking and stepped forward to greet them with a solemn expression.

Before Li Xiaogong and Li Yuanjia could return the greeting, Li Daoli, who was following behind them, had already trotted forward and asked anxiously, "Where is my son now?"

Seeing that all the royal family members and noble sons were subdued, he knew that things were not going well, and wanted to take advantage of this moment to get Li Jingshu out. As long as he sacrificed his old face, the King of Han and the King of Hejian would surely give him some face...

Fang Jun had a sad face and sighed, "My Lord, please accept my condolences. Your son accidentally fell down during the chaos and was trampled, causing multiple rib fractures and internal organ damage. Although I ordered people to do their best to treat him, there was really no way to save him..."

Ma Zhou drooped his eyelids with contempt in his heart. He just laughed at himself for changing his expression like turning the pages of a book, and you are no less than him.

Li Daoli felt as if struck by lightning. He stood there in a daze, suspecting that his ears were broken.

Broken ribs...damaged internal organs...no chance of recovery...dead?
"This, this, this...how could this be? How could this be? Where is my son now?" Li Daoli's face was dull and his words were incoherent. He hoped that Fang Jun had an old grudge against him and was deliberately playing a joke on him.

Fang Jun pointed to one side and said, "It's right there, Prince, go and have a look. We'll send someone to carry it back to the palace for funeral arrangements later."

Li Daoli stumbled over and saw his usually lively son lying on the cold ground with his eyes closed, his face dark and black, with dried black blood stains at the corners of his mouth. Suddenly his whole body began to tremble violently as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer. Then his eyes went black and he knelt down in front of his son's body, bowed his head to the ground and burst into tears.

The crying was sharp and shrill. Since ancient times, the pain of the elderly sending off the young is beyond words. It makes anyone who hears it sad and anyone who sees it cries.

Li Xiaogong and Li Yuanjia were also shocked. They looked at Fang Jun at the same time. Although they did not say anything, their eyes made their meaning clear: Did you do it?

Fang Jun didn't say anything, just shook his head and pointed at Ma Zhou.

Ma Zhou said, "The situation was complicated and chaotic. After the Right Jinwu Guard arrived and controlled the situation, they found that Li Jingshu had fallen to the ground and was dead. The doctor accompanying the Right Jinwu Guard gave him emergency treatment, but he was too seriously injured and could not be saved. It was a pity. I watched the whole process. The doctor's procedures and methods of treatment were very reasonable. Li Jingshu was indeed trampled by someone, which caused organ damage and death. It had nothing to do with others."

Li Yuanjia nodded repeatedly: "Prefect Ma is careful and responsible in his work, very good."

Although Fang Jun would occasionally ride his horse through the gate of the palace and beat anyone he saw, he was still his brother-in-law after all. How could he be willing to see him fall into the predicament of "murdering a member of the royal family"? Now that Ma Zhou had testified and endorsed him, it couldn't be better.

Ma Zhou said calmly: "It's my job, and it's only natural."

Suddenly, Li Daoli, who was lying on his son's body and crying bitterly, stood up abruptly and let out a howl. Then he ran towards Fang Jun, his eyes bloodshot and his mouth open with sharp teeth showing, like a wild beast ready to eat anyone, which scared everyone.

However, before he could rush to Fang Jun, Sun Renshi had already rushed forward and kicked Li Daoli in the abdomen, causing him to stop and bend over in severe pain. Then he hit Li Daoli's head with a whip-kick, and the latter groaned and fell to the ground. Sun Renshi kicked him in the abdomen again, and Li Daoli curled up like a shrimp, vomiting continuously, with snot and tears streaming down his face, but he could not even scream.

Li Xiaogong frowned, after all, Li Daoli was a member of the Li Tang royal family. Being beaten in public by a warrior like Sun Renshi was really a disgrace to the royal family. He coughed and said unhappily, "He is just an old and weak man, why should General Sun treat him like this? I know you are loyal to Erlang, but the Prince of Dongping is in grief over the loss of his son, so it is understandable that he made irrational actions in a trance. Let's just leave it at that."

"Here."

Master Sun Ren quickly agreed and stepped aside.

"Uncle, uncle, save me! I am Chongxu!"

A shout came from under the courtyard wall on the other side. Li Xiaogong frowned and looked over, and saw Li Chongxu struggling to break free from the control of the soldiers and rush over. The two soldiers were afraid of Li Xiaogong's power and did not dare to use force but did not dare to let Li Chongxu go either, and were a little hesitant.

Li Xiaogong cursed: "Shut up! You have the guts to do such a stupid thing but don't have the guts to take responsibility? The Cai King's branch doesn't have a useless bastard like you! Stay here and wait for His Majesty to deal with you. If you dare to do something stupid again, no one can save you!"

Li Xiaogong's grandfather, Prince of Cai, Li Wei, had two sons, Li Zhe, Prince of Jinan, and Li An, Prince of Xiping. Li Zhe's son, Li Yuan, Prince of Lujiang, was close to the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng. He was defeated and killed during the "Xuanwu Gate Incident", leaving behind three sons, of which Li Chongxu was the youngest. Li An had four sons, of which Li Xiaogong was the second...

The relationship between the two brothers Li Zhe and Li An was not good. They were loyal to Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin respectively, and experienced a life-and-death struggle, so the two families rarely interacted. However, Li Chongxu was his nephew after all. Although he could not be rescued on the spot, he could still give him some advice. Since "no one can save him if he dares to act recklessly again", it means that this time he may not be in trouble...

Li Chongxu fell silent. Li Yuanjia rubbed his temples and looked at the royal family and nobles who were wailing and begging for mercy in the yard. He sighed and said, "How should we deal with this matter?"

Li Xiaogong pondered for a moment and said, "If we deal with so many royal family members and nobles according to the law, it will surely cause a great disturbance. The law cannot punish the masses. At present, the struggle between the monks and Taoists is in full swing and has caused unrest in Guanzhong. If there is another incident, it will not end well. We might as well deal with them as ordinary troublemakers, put them in shackles, fine them, and give them warnings. That's all."

Li Yuanjia was also inclined to let it go so easily. There were already undercurrents in the royal family. If a war broke out at this moment, who knew whether someone would be unable to sit still and do something rebellious.

Fang Jun didn't think so. He pointed at Li Jingshu's body and reminded him, "If it was just an attack on Jingzhao Prefecture, it would be fine and we could just let it go. But now that a prince of the royal family has died, I'm afraid this matter is not something you two can decide. I'm afraid it has to be decided by His Majesty. Besides, even if everyone wants to let it go, I'm afraid the Prince of Dongping won't agree, right?"

"You bastard! You must have secretly murdered my son. Give me back my son's life!"

After catching his breath, Li Daoli fell to the ground, still glaring at Fang Jun with bloodshot eyes and gnashing teeth, as if he wanted to eat Fang Jun alive.

Li Xiaogong was dissatisfied and scolded: "What does this have to do with Erlang? He was not even there! Besides, the situation was chaotic at the time and we don't know who started it. In the end, there will be no evidence and it will be nothing. If it stirs up a huge storm and involves more people, do you think the Prince of Dongping's Mansion will be safe? Why not just give up here? I will ask all the families who participated in the attack on Jingzhao Prefecture today to pay huge compensation to make up for the losses of the Prince of Dongping's Mansion."

"Bullshit! You old thief, don't try to pretend to be fair. You are in cahoots with me. I fell into your trap. You secretly murdered my child. I will never stop fighting with you! Ah! Evil thief, give me back my son's life!"

Li Daoli cried, howled, and yelled until his voice was hoarse and tears were streaming down his face. He was tormented by the great grief of losing his son and was in agony and in a trance.

Li Yuanjia sighed with a sad face, and seeing Ma Zhou quietly standing by, he asked, "Prince Bin, you witnessed the whole thing and know the details. How do you think we should deal with it?"

The government office of Jingzhao Prefecture was attacked, which was the source of all the troubles, so Ma Zhou was qualified to suggest how to deal with the matter. As long as Ma Zhou said that he would let bygones be bygones, the Zongzheng Temple could suppress the matter and deal with it in the most low-key way.

He believed that Ma Zhou could understand the hidden dangers and risks behind this matter, and also believed that Ma Zhou could take the overall situation into consideration.

However, Ma Zhou had a solemn expression on his face. "The prince of a royal family died suddenly in my office. I am responsible for this. How can I be vague about it? Moreover, Erlang came with his troops to maintain order at the right time. I am afraid he cannot be cleared of responsibility. It is better to report it to His Majesty as soon as possible, and then the Zongzheng Temple, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Justice will all participate in solving this case."

Li Yuanjia and Li Xiaogong looked at Fang Jun at the same time. Li Jingshu's death was so strange, was this guy really innocent?

But no matter what, since Ma Zhou is unwilling to let things go peacefully and Li Jingshu insists on getting to the truth, they can only report it according to the rules, and then His Majesty will issue an order to the three judicial departments to hold a joint trial and the Censorate to supervise. The prince of the Prince's Mansion is not a cat or a dog, he is a blood relative whose name is recorded in the royal family genealogy. It is extremely difficult to conceal the news of his death.

Li Yuanjia had no choice but to say, "I will go to the palace to ask His Majesty for instructions. Please stay here for the time being to control the situation and do not let the chaos spread to the entire Chang'an, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

"These are our responsibilities, so Your Highness the King of Han does not need to worry about them. You just need to complete your duties."

Fang Jun did not show much respect to his brother-in-law, and his words and actions were very casual.

Li Yuanjia had no way to deal with him. Although his words were unpleasant to hear, he understood the meaning of "mind your own business" and realized that there must be something more behind this matter. So he nodded, turned around and walked out of the gate, riding his horse with his entourage, and headed east along Jinguangmen Street all the way to Chengtianmen.

Li Xiaogong glanced at Ma Zhou, pulled Fang Jun aside, and when he saw that no one was around, he asked in a low voice: "What is going on? How dare these bastards attack Jingzhao Prefecture and even set fire to it? Can my nephew be saved?"