Mystery at Lanting Chapter 9

At this point, Nathan Li stared at Edward Liu and said, "I just want to ask you a question now. If you don't answer me truthfully, not only will I not help you, I will also arrest you and send you to the emperor."

"General Li actually wants to ask me why I want to involve you, right?"
 
Edward Liu seemed to have expected Nathan Li to say this, and calmly answered him: "Because you won't arrest me, because you, Lord Di, and I all hope that the prince can safely recover the Li Tang artifact, right?"

Nathan Li stood up quietly, exhaled a long breath, and turned his back to Edward Liu. He was full of thoughts: In fact, deep down in his heart, he really hoped that Prince Li would take back the Li Tang artifact and restore orthodoxy to the world. He also knew deeply that Lord Di must be thinking the same thing.

But in fact, they still loyally helped this epoch-making female emperor to travel across the country, experienced countless hardships and dangers, and even preferred to sacrifice their lives to maintain the stability of the Wu Zhou Dynasty.

Sometimes Nathan Li felt it was not worth it, but Jonathan Di asked him in return: "As long as the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the borders are peacefully unified, does it matter who is the ruler of the world? Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. In fact, isn't your Majesty following the teachings of Emperor Taizong to build a peaceful and prosperous world?"

Aren't we working hard and risking our lives to achieve Emperor Taizong's grand goal?

What you and I have to do now is to protect the prince, clean up the world, and let the people recuperate. Until your majesty is a hundred years old, we will return a country with a people living and working in peace and a strong army to the prince and the Li Tang without bloodshed. Do you understand?"

Thinking of this, Nathan Li's eyes became moist. He remembered that when Di Gong was helping Victoria Wu to suppress rebellions and defend the border with all his heart, he was criticized and slandered by the old ministers of Li Tang in the court. However, Di Gong never took it seriously and just laughed it off.

When those old ministers of the Li Tang Dynasty were demoted or even about to be killed because they offended Victoria Wu and Matthew Wu, Di Gong often spoke up for them and even rescued them. What a broad mind he had!

"General Li?" Edward Liu looked at Nathan Li inquiringly and said, "What have you considered? If you agree to help me, that is, to help the prince take back the Li Tang artifact, I will tell you everything and promise to reward you and Lord Di generously after the prince ascends the throne. If you don't agree, please capture me and present me to Victoria Wu. I will die for the Tang Dynasty without regrets!"

Nathan Li's brain was spinning rapidly: Although the old ministers of Li Tang were extreme and even used all means to support the prince to ascend the throne, most of them were loyal and upright, and treated the people with kindness and friendliness, which was much better than the royal relatives and nobles with the surname Wu.

There are too many secrets in Edward Liu. If he does not intervene and lets it develop, there are only two possible outcomes. One is that he will succeed, causing a rebellion and the people will suffer.

One is to be discovered by the emperor, and then the case will be expanded, and there will be another bloody storm. Now there is only one way left for Nathan Li.

"General Li, have you thought it through?" Edward Liu approached aggressively.

"Yes, I decided to help you." Nathan Li turned slowly, the morning light shining on his dark and thin cheeks, casting a silvery glow, "Can you tell me about your lost token now?"

To Nathan Li's surprise, Edward Liu knelt on the ground with a plop and kowtowed three times to Nathan Li. Nathan Li quickly helped him up and asked, "What are you doing?"

Edward Liu raised his head, tears welling in his eyes as he said, "General Li is willing to give up his wealth and take risks to defend the Li Tang Dynasty. I would like to thank you on behalf of the late emperor and the deceased royal family members of the Li family!"

Nathan Li sighed softly and said, "Let's talk about the stolen token."

"General Li, please follow me." Edward Liu waved his hand and pressed a pattern on the table leg behind him. The scroll behind him slowly rose up, and there was a wall behind it. However, Nathan Li could see at a glance that there was a small rectangular gap in the wall, and there was a secret room behind the wall.

Sure enough, Edward Liu pressed a square brick at the lower left corner of the wall, and the door of the secret room opened inward. Inside was a very long passage, illuminated by an oil lamp every few meters. The shadow of the lamp swayed with the wind blowing in from the room, and the secret passage flickered.

"General Li, please follow me." Edward Liu walked in calmly and made a "please" gesture.

Nathan Li touched the dark blue sword at his waist and followed quietly.

It's late at night.

The lights in the hall were still bright. On the wide dragon desk, Victoria Wu was still busy reviewing memorials from various places. The female officials and eunuchs beside her stood with their hands hanging down, serving her carefully. In the magnificent hall, the flickering lights were reflected on Victoria Wu's face. She sometimes frowned and sometimes showed a relieved smile.

Suddenly, the memorial in her hand trembled slightly, and her rare gentle eyes became cold. The servants on both sides immediately tightened their hearts: "Something must have made the emperor unhappy. I have to be more careful!"

The female officials and eunuchs were thinking the same thing when suddenly Oliver Hu stumbled in from outside the hall. He even forgot to report and fell down in front of Victoria Wu's desk with a plop. The attendants on both sides were so scared that they almost fell to the ground like Oliver Hu.

Victoria Wu didn't even raise her head and gently rebuked: "You old thing, you are becoming more and more unruly. What's the matter that makes you so flustered?"

Oliver Hu also realized his own misconduct, and while still lying on the ground, he shouted loudly: "Oliver Hu pays respect to our emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor!"

"Alright, alright, help him up!" Victoria Wu suddenly found Oliver Hu's appearance very funny. This old servant had served two generations of emperors. Although he would sometimes take a little money and take advantage of others, Victoria Wu had never exposed him. This could be regarded as a tolerant reward for his hard work in serving her.

"Get him a stool to sit on and let him drink some water!" Victoria Wu ordered the servants.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! I'm fine. There is news about the case investigated by Jonathan Di!" Oliver Hu said anxiously.

"Oh? You go down first." Victoria Wu waved her hand, and the two servants bowed respectfully, walked out of the hall, closed the door and left.

"Tell me, what did Jonathan Di find out?"

"The first victim had his right arm chopped off, and the other had his left arm chopped off. Lord Di said this might be a hint of the murderer!"
 
Although Oliver Hu had calmed down, his heart couldn't help but tremble when he said this.

Hearing this, Victoria Wu's heart seemed to be hit hard, and her face suddenly became gloomy, "You mean the remnants of Queen Wang have not been completely eliminated?"

(After the defeat of the previous palace struggle, Empress Wang was cruelly cut off her limbs, eyes and ears, and soaked in a jar of wine. She was also euphemistically called "human pig".)

"That's not what I meant. I'm just worried that if it's true, their ultimate target might be Your Majesty!"

Victoria Wu's face twitched slightly, and she suddenly asked Oliver Hu with relief: "Oliver Hu, are you afraid of death?"

"Ah?!" Oliver Hu was suddenly stunned by the question. He didn't know why Victoria Wu asked this question, and he was so hasty that he couldn't say anything.

Victoria Wu looked up at the magnificent hall, then looked back at her dragon throne, and said with a calm smile: "Emperor Taizong has always advocated that 'water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it', and he has always been tolerant and kind in his administration, avoiding excessive killing, but do you know why I killed so many people?"

Oliver Hu finally calmed down and said indignantly: "Because they are all traitors and should be killed!"

"Then let me ask you, is my benevolent and filial son also a traitor? Is my newborn daughter also a traitor?"

There was a gleam in Victoria Wu's eyes that Oliver Hu had never seen before, a kind of sadness that made people feel cold to the bone.

"Ah?!" Oliver Hu fell off the stool and fell to the ground. Cold sweat flowed down his cheeks onto the exquisite carpet. Countless scenes seemed to come back to his mind: he remembered that more than ten years ago, Emperor Gaozong was about to die of illness, and Crown Prince Li Hong had already come of age. Crown Prince Li Hong was known for his benevolence and filial piety. He had been in charge of government affairs since he was 8 years old. He was very intelligent and had made great achievements in poetry and prose, and was deeply loved by Emperor Gaozong.

But he died mysteriously when he was about to ascend the throne at the age of 24. Although the prince was in poor health, he should not die so young. Unexpectedly, the reason was that the emperor killed his own son in order to ascend to the throne!

The little princess was strangled to death by the Queen when she was just born, so the current emperor ascended to the throne of Queen step by step. I didn’t expect it to be like this!

Oliver Hu was both afraid and sad for this woman. In order to ascend the throne, she actually killed her own child with her own hands. Although she was a monarch, she was also a woman. What kind of pain and struggle must she have endured in her heart over the past few decades!

"Why would I kill my own daughter? Just because Queen Wang stands in front of me! So I want her to experience all the pain in the world! Let her suffer all the torture in the world!" Victoria Wu said gritting her teeth and trembling.

Oliver Hu looked at this hysterical woman in horror. Yes, at this moment, Victoria Wu was no longer a majestic emperor who ruled the world, but an ordinary woman who had experienced experiences and pains that ordinary people could not bear.

Victoria Wu suddenly fell off the dragon throne, staggered to the ground, tears fell silently, and then frantically grabbed Oliver Hu and asked: "Tell me, what did Li Hong do wrong? Why did you kill him! Why? Why!"

Oliver Hu knelt down quickly, not caring about anything else, and shook Victoria Wu vigorously and whispered: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Wake up, don't scare this old slave!"

Victoria Wu stared at Oliver Hu in a daze, and finally calmed down, muttering: "Yes, you didn't kill Li Hong, I killed him, I killed him, I killed him..."

Oliver Hu looked at the almost insane Victoria Wu, and his mind suddenly calmed down: the emperor killed his own children, and no one knew about it. Today, she accidentally revealed the emperor's secret. If the emperor continued to be so crazy, it would be fine. But if she suddenly woke up and realized that Oliver Hu knew her secret, then Oliver Hu's fate would be predictable.

Thinking of this, Oliver Hu took another look at the master he had served for many years. When he was young and serving the late emperor, he determined at first sight that this woman would definitely seize the initiative in the harem struggle, so he secretly gave her a lot of help. What Oliver Hu did not expect was that he thought Victoria Wu would only be the queen and the mother of the country, but he did not expect that in this harem gamble, the chips he won far exceeded his expectations. In the end, Oliver Hu became the chief eunuch in the palace and the object of flattery by court officials.

All of this was given to him by this woman, but this woman could take everything away at any time, even his own life!

Under the current circumstances, as long as Victoria Wu wakes up and remembers that she had leaked such an important secret to Oliver Hu, Oliver Hu would definitely be dead.

"What should I do?!" Oliver Hu looked at the half-crazy Victoria Wu, his mind like an ant on a hot pan, constantly churning. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of the sword hanging next to Victoria Wu's dragon chair. This was a relic of the previous emperor, and Victoria Wu had always kept it with her in memory of her husband.

Oliver Hu's heart suddenly shook violently. Looking at Victoria Wu, whose face was dull and who had no power to fight back, he thought to himself: If I kill the emperor and help the prince to become the new emperor, then not only can I save my own life, I will even usher in greater wealth and glory!

Thinking of this, Oliver Hu's legs, which had just gone limp, bounced up from the ground like springs and ran straight towards the sword. On his face, which was smeared with white rouge, his pupils, which were sunken in the wrinkles, were already full of bloodshot due to excitement. He gritted his teeth and said secretly in his heart: "In order to save my life, Your Majesty, I am sorry for you!"