Chapter 585 Shameless person

Feng Guan and Du Ming were both somewhat impatient.

I thought to myself, you, Li Zisheng, are still fooling around here, saying something like His Majesty’s kindness in recognizing your talent. It seems like you just want to get away with it.

But anyway, we also know that with this guy named Zhang here, you have someone backing you up, and you will definitely fight to the end today. We are mentally prepared!
Zhang Luan said, “Then let’s get started. But before we officially start, there is one thing I must emphasize. Minister Li, you don’t know why you were summoned to the Northern Pacification Office for questioning, right?”

“I do not know.”

Li Zisheng bowed and said, “Please give me some advice.”

Feng Guan asked coldly, “What have you done in the past? Don’t you know it?”

Li Zisheng shook his head and sighed: “It may also be that I have done too many bad things and I can’t remember which one it was at the moment.”

Feng Guan frowned and said, “Minister Li, you have to be responsible for what you said. This is a court, you can’t joke around. Tell me, what bad things have you done before?”

“Don’t rush into a fight!”

Zhang Luan tried to dissuade him: “Let’s talk in a friendly manner… Everything must revolve around the case, don’t make any unnecessary things. By the way, has the Jinyiwei revealed any relevant information to Minister Li?”

Zhu Ji stood aside and thought, what else can I do here?
“Nothing was disclosed.”

Zhu Ji stepped forward and answered.

Zhang Luan nodded: “I went to the imperial prison last night and saw Li Zisheng from afar. But I didn’t tell him anything about the case. Instead, my son told him that I would be in charge of the case.”

Du Ming interrupted, “Master Zhang, you don’t have to talk about this. As long as Minister Li has not seen his family and guests in the imperial prison, it is not considered a violation of the rules.”

Zhang Luan said, “To avoid people thinking that I am covering up and condoning, some things should be made clear in advance. Commander Zhu, can you testify for me that I did not reveal the case to Minister Li in advance?”

Zhu Ji looked helpless.

I thought to myself, what’s the difference between revealing it and not revealing it?
Tell Li Zisheng that you are the chief judge, and everything will be decided.

“Not yet.”

Zhu Ji said with a bitter face.

“Well, let’s start questioning.”

Zhang Luan got straight to the point this time, “Minister Li, Your Majesty received a letter from Liang Fang earlier, saying that he had conspired with you to discuss the replacement of the crown prince. The specific time was not listed, but it is expected that it happened last year… Do you admit it?”

“What letter? I haven’t seen it.”

Li Zisheng shook his head and denied it immediately.

Du Ming and Feng Guan wanted to roll their eyes after hearing this.

You, Zhang Guozhang, are so bad!
Doesn’t this just reveal all our cards?
If he doesn’t even acknowledge this most direct evidence, wouldn’t it be easy for Li Zisheng to deny it later?

If he admits this, it would be really weird!

“but……”

Unexpectedly, Li Zisheng changed the subject and said, “Liang Fang and I have communicated a lot, but most of them were face-to-face conversations, and rarely were we in correspondence. But he did mention to me many times that he was dissatisfied with His Majesty, who was the Crown Prince at the time, and wanted to promote the plan of changing the crown prince.”

After listening to this, Feng Guan suddenly stood up and shouted, “Li Zisheng, do you know what you are talking about? You are interfering in the affairs of the royal family. You must be responsible for what you said!”

Li Zisheng looked puzzled and said soothingly, “Feng Jiqing, don’t get excited. You are standing up to ask me a question. Should I stand up or not?”

“You can do it or not… Did you all hear it with your own ears? What did he say just now?”

Feng Guan seemed to be afraid that Li Zisheng would go back on his word, so he pointed out the key point immediately.

Zhang Luan said calmly, “I am not deaf. With so many people listening here, I don’t think Minister Li will go back on his word. Besides, Eunuch Tan is here. He will report back to Your Majesty when he returns. Let’s sit down and continue asking questions, okay?”

“you……”

Feng Guan suddenly felt like an outcast.

How come I can’t remain calm after hearing this, but you think it’s very normal?

Du Shangshu?
Do you think so too?

At this moment, Du Ming seemed to have lost all hope in life. He sat there with a blank expression without even the slightest change in his facial features.

Then Feng Guan sat down unwillingly.

Zhang Luan suddenly shouted in a cold voice: “Minister Li, Feng Dali Temple Minister is right, do you know what you are saying? You are interfering in the affairs of the royal family. It can even be said that you have evil intentions and are trying to interfere with the position of the crown prince. This is an unforgivable capital crime!”

Li Zisheng shrugged and said, “I said it, there is nothing wrong with admitting it… I also admit that I was bewitched by Liang Fang at the time and seriously discussed this matter with him.”

Now everyone present was dumbfounded.

Even Du Ming found it difficult to control his expression as they all stared at Li Zisheng in amazement.

Are you looking for death?!

Or is Li Zisheng really not afraid of death?

Tan Ji said quickly: “Minister Li, some things don’t need to be said so directly. We don’t know the details, so it’s difficult for us to comment.”

What I mean is, we didn’t let you admit it so easily, you can take it back in the end, and we will take it step by step.

We really can’t accept the fact that you’ve made such a big fuss right at the start.

Li Zisheng asked curiously, “I am admitting my past crimes, what’s wrong with that?”

Feng Guan acted like a Supreme Court official, and shouted, “What evidence do you have?”

“Huh? I admit my crime. This is a confession. What evidence do you need? How about you arrest Liang Fang and let me confront him face to face? See if we have discussed the change of storage before? By the way, if I knew that evidence would be needed for the interrogation today, should I have asked Liang Fang to leave paper evidence at that time? Oh, wait, don’t you have a letter written by him personally? Isn’t this considered evidence?” Li Zisheng was quite frank.

I stretched out my neck for you to chop off, and you actually asked me what evidence I had?
Too busy?
Feng Guan looked at Du Ming and said bitterly, “Du Bu Tang, please give me some advice.”

Du Ming was very embarrassed. He took a deep breath and said, “Li… Zisheng’s words do make some sense. Since he has admitted it, then… it seems there is nothing to ask.”

Zhang Luan was unhappy again and said quickly: “You can’t say that. We have to ask questions thoroughly. We can’t just say he admits it and then stop asking questions. We have to get to the bottom of this!”

Du Ming almost wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, and hurriedly said: “Master Zhang is in charge of this case, so you should make the decision.”

What he meant was, you are awesome, you were able to make Li Zisheng admit his guilt so quickly, we can’t do it for you, so you should do it yourself.

Zhang Luan asked, “Minister Li, do you know what it means if you admit this? Do you also know how serious this crime is?”

“Ugh!”

Li Zisheng sighed, “Zhang Guozhang, you really don’t need to beat around the bush, just be clear. Since it’s about changing the crown prince, then I have nothing to hide. I was deceived by Liang Fang at the beginning, but didn’t I meet you later? It was you who told me that the Ming Dynasty cannot change the crown prince, and the stability of the crown prince is related to the eternal stability of the Ming Dynasty. Didn’t I turn back in time?”

Feng Guan asked with a dark face: “Are you trying to deny it again?”

“I didn’t deny it. I admitted that I discussed the matter of changing the crown prince with Liang Fang. But later, I reported to the court on behalf of Zhang Guozhang about the earthquakes in Ningxia and Mount Tai. Those were also facts. They were all to help the crown prince overcome difficulties… Could it be that this is also my excuse?”

Li Zisheng said confidently.

Feng Guan looked at Tan Ji and asked, “Eunuch Tan, do you know how he reported this to His Majesty?”

Qin Ji looked very embarrassed.

In other words, Qin Ji’s dilemma is no less than Du Ming’s.

Qin Ji said with a bitter face: “Mr. Feng, please rest assured. I know what to say to His Majesty, and I will tell you the truth… But at that time, it was indeed Minister Li who saved the situation. After his prophecies came true one by one, the rumors of changing the crown prince in the court almost disappeared!”

Feng Guan said angrily, “No matter what the truth is, a minister who was born a Taoist priest, it would be fine if he corrupted the government, but he actually wanted to get involved in the inheritance of the royal family? This is treason! I am ashamed to be associated with such a person, I am leaving now.”

After saying that, he stood up.

“and many more.”

Zhang Luan stopped him, “Feng Siqing, we are here to question you on the orders of the Emperor. You can also think of this as an investigation. Who asked you to be in league with Minister Li? You just walked away with your sleeves swung. Does that mean you won’t care about what he says next? You are deceiving the Emperor and neglecting your duty, do you understand?”

Feng Guan was filled with grief and indignation, but due to the grave crime of deceiving the emperor, he had to sit down and continue listening.

Li Zisheng seemed to tease Feng Guan and said, “Feng Jiqing, I understand your feelings. If Your Majesty wants to punish me and transfer me to the Dali Temple for trial, I will definitely apologize to you in person… Or how about you watch me perform suicide by crossing my sword in front of you?”

“Shameless!”

Feng Guan scolded, “You have done so many disloyal things, why don’t you end your life earlier?”

Zhang Luan frowned, “Why are you getting more and more outrageous? Minister Li spoke for the Crown Prince and made real contributions to maintaining the stability of the Crown Prince’s position by predicting some things about the heavens. I can testify to this, and I think… there should be no one in the world who would not admit it, right? What do you think, Eunuch Tan?”

“This one……”

Tan Ji smiled bitterly and nodded, “Maybe.”

Zhang Luan said again: “Then Minister Li, why did you break the law knowingly? You knew that the inheritance of the royal family was not something a minister should interfere with, but you still got involved? Don’t say that you were deceived by Liang Fang. I think you are not firm in your heart and have ulterior motives.”

Li Zisheng said: “Zhang Guozhang’s teaching is correct. It was all because I didn’t have a high level of awareness at the time, or because I had little contact with the prince, I was taken advantage of by the villain and did something unforgivable. But later I heard about the prince’s many deeds and learned that he was a wise and wise crown prince. I regretted it so much that I changed my ways…”

“quibble!”

Feng Guan shouted.

Li Zisheng frowned and asked in confusion: “Without any evidence, I have even admitted my crime. There is really no need to quibble.

“Could it be that Feng Jiqing thinks that Your Majesty is not wise? Doesn’t my subsequent actions prove that I have turned over a new leaf? Of course, I am not trying to excuse myself. I have committed a crime, and even if I am sentenced to death, I will admit it.”

“you……”

Feng Guan felt a little powerless.

Qin Ji said, “Mr. Feng, you have interrogated many prisoners before, but you cannot interrogate Minister Li as a prisoner today… He is confessing his past deeds, which have nothing to do with good or bad. There are some things that Your Majesty also wants to know the inside story.”

It’s almost like saying, how about it, are you enlightened now?
Our eyes were opened too.

This is the first time I have seen such an honest criminal. He seemed afraid that others didn’t know that he had committed a crime.

“Mr. Zhang, you…”

Qin Ji quickly looked at Zhang Luan, meaning, you know what our emperor wants to know, right? Why don’t you take advantage of Li Zisheng’s frankness and ask the key question?
Zhang Luan was still a little confused.

Zhang Yanling tapped Zhang Luan’s back, and Zhang Luan suddenly remembered something and said, “If I ask you any more questions, it’s better for Du Shangshu and Feng Siqing to step aside.”

“You can’t avoid it.”

Feng Guan insisted, “There is nothing that cannot be said to others. Do you still want to protect the criminal?”

Zhang Luan said bluntly, “Okay, if you don’t leave, then I’ll ask you… Minister Li, I want to ask you, Liang Fang has been pushing for a change of crown prince. Was it because of the late emperor’s instruction, or was there some other reason? Tell the truth. If you conceal anything, it will not be tolerated by the law!”

“Cough cough!”

When Feng Guan heard this, he thought, what a great guy.

Sure enough, there are some questions that I need to avoid.

Why am I so mean-spirited?
If I had known this question would be asked earlier, I would have thought that Zhang Guozhang had good intentions.

How could he be trying to shield Li Zisheng?
Why does it look like pushing Li Zisheng into the fire pit?
(End of this chapter)