Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 909 The Madman's Thinking
When news of Li Renxiao's intention to escape reached Yang Yuan, he was enjoying a hearty drink with the new Jin envoys at the "Shuiyunjian" restaurant.

Wanyan Qingfeng and Li Yuanzhi shyly walked to the front of the banquet and danced a "Partridge Dance" to entertain everyone.

The Partridge Dance imitates the graceful movements of birds, with its sleeves fluttering like butterflies, playful and adorable.

However, if a pair of partridges dance together, it carries the metaphor of courtship.

In particular, Wanyan Qingfeng and Li Yuanzhi put their hands on their waists and shrugged their shoulders, one acting like a male bird and the other like a female bird.

As one person took a three-step forward and one-step back, and another took a three-step back and one-step forward, their wide sleeves brushed against the gold waist chains adorned with bells on their slender waists.

The rhythmic dance steps, accompanied by rhythmic bell sounds, are quite similar to the charming and playful rendition of "Aiya" by Silence Wang and Jessica Jung.

Yang Yuan watched with great interest.

However, when Yang Yuan was in the Jin Kingdom, these young girls were still too young to dance for him.

Therefore, Yang Yuan did not understand the hidden meaning of courtship and love in this dance.

The two girls were practically throwing flirtatious glances at a blind man.

As everyone was laughing and singing, Liu Dazhuang hurriedly went to Yang Yuan's side and whispered a few words in her ear.

Dazhuang is currently working in the Imperial City Guard.

Such intelligence agencies are typically controlled by close associates of those in power.

Before Zhao Dun attempted to poison him, Yang Yuan had not extended his reach into the Imperial City Guard.

At that time, he really wanted to be like Huo Guang.

However, after the incident involving the poisoned wine, Yang Yuan's last glimmer of hope was shattered.

From then on, the Imperial City Guard was no longer outside his control.

Upon hearing this, Yang Yuan's eyes flickered slightly, and he said with a faint smile, "Lock him up for now. Today, I am enjoying a drink with an old friend, so let's not spoil the mood."

Liu Dazhuang bowed and withdrew.

Shangguan Luo, Wanyan Qingfeng, and Li Yuanzhi naturally wouldn't presume to ask what had happened.

However, for someone to intrude into such a setting and secretly report to Yang Yuan, it must be something important.

But Yang Yuan stayed with them, which made them very happy.

Only Wuda Youzhuzhu knew that tonight, she probably wouldn't be able to enjoy the Prime Minister's favor.

but……

The days are long.

This negotiation isn't something that can be finalized in just a few days.

So, she simply glanced at Yang Yuan with her alluring, seductive eyes, conveying everything without saying a word.

Sure enough, after they had finished their fun, Yang Yuan did not return to Banjingguan with them, but instead had someone escort them back.

After a few glasses of fruit wine, Yuanzhi and Qingfeng, the two young girls, were feeling a little dizzy.

Her rosy cheeks resembled those of a ripe apple.

With each breath, a fruity aroma filled my mouth.

Perhaps emboldened by the alcohol, the two men looked at Yang Yuan with unusually fiery eyes.

If Yang Yuan follows them back to the Banjing Pavilion tonight and dares to enter their bedroom, it will definitely set off a passionate encounter.

Unfortunately, Yang Yuan went to the Imperial City Guard.

The defection of a foreign monarch who had already submitted is no small matter.

That night, Yang Yuan spent the night at the Imperial City Guard Office.

The next morning, he went to the Hall of State Affairs, and then went to see the young emperor with the bigwigs of the three judicial departments: the Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate.

The young emperor Zhao Dun's madness came and went, but fortunately, his madness did not involve any violent tendencies.

His schizophrenia included hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, and paranoia.

However, his fear of Yang Yuan, or more accurately, his fear of death, made him completely incapable of resisting Yang Yuan, who had already taken control of everything.

Even when he has an attack.

Therefore, he was always very well-behaved when Yang Yuan was around.

This is also why he was able to continue sitting on the throne.

Otherwise, if this emperor continues to act erratically in public, then we'll have to replace him.

The Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate all had different opinions on how to deal with Li Renxiao.

However, their main disagreement lay in what punishment to take and the aftermath.

The three judicial departments were unanimous in their opinion on the direct punishment of Li Renxiao: execution!
After the three judicial officials expressed their opinions, they, along with Yang Yuan, turned their attention to Emperor Zhao Dun and the Second Prince Zhao Kai.

Yang Yuan said, "Your Majesty, Li Renxiao was once the ruler of a country. I would appreciate Your Majesty's instructions on how to deal with him."

Zhao Dun smiled ingratiatingly at Yang Yuan: "I have no experience in dealing with this kind of thing."

The Prime Minister achieved the highest honors in the imperial examinations, and his scholarship was unparalleled throughout the land.

"What does the Prime Minister think I should do?"

Yang Yuan said, "If a former enemy ruler who has already surrendered and been granted a title intends to rebel, that is treason!"

Death is inevitable.

Zhao Dun shuddered and quickly nodded, saying, "Absolutely right, absolutely right, he should be killed."

Yang Yuan said, "However, precisely because he was once the ruler of an enemy state of our Great Song, we must kill him openly and fairly, and not punish him without warning."

Zhao Dun clapped his hands and praised, "That's exactly right! The Prime Minister's words and suggestions are indeed mature and insightful." Yang Yuan frowned; the Emperor had gone a bit too far with his praise.

He cleared his throat and continued, "I believe that Li Renxiao should be temporarily placed under control, but his crimes should not be made public at this time, nor should his title be stripped."

The Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate should be ordered to jointly investigate and obtain all the correspondence and witness testimonies between Li Renxiao and his remaining associates.

He was then publicly exonerated as a prime example for the crime of "plotting treason".

However, he was once the ruler of a country, so we should still give him some dignity.

He could be given poisoned wine or a white silk noose, and the execution should not be carried out in public.

Zhao Dun's face turned a little pale. He nodded hurriedly and said, "Of course, of course."

Yang Yuan coldly said, "The tribal leaders of Xixia Road who have colluded with Li Renxiao must be held accountable."

All those involved in Li Renxiao's defection and rebellion will be executed by dismemberment!
The account of Li Renxiao's treacherous act of betraying his promise and attempting to defect should also be compiled into a book.

Not only should songs and plays about brothels be made widely circulated, but the story should also be widely publicized in Xixia Road so that the whole world knows he deserves to die!

Zhao Dun shuddered again and quickly nodded, saying, "Okay, okay!"

To kill someone, you must first destroy their spirit. Zhao Dun looked at Yang Yuan as if he were a demon, and his fear grew even stronger.

"On the contrary, the court issued an edict to commend the loyalty of the Western Xia nobles who had not colluded with Li Renxiao."

In these territories under the jurisdiction of the Western Xia nobles, the benevolent policy of reducing taxes and corvée labor was implemented.

They need to understand that the court will not ignore the loyalty of those who are loyal to it.

At this time, the former territory of Western Xia was mainly the Hetao Plain, which was now in a state of complete autonomy.

After killing the officials who were trying to seize their power and interests, they neither fought nor made peace, and fell into a strange state of "stagnation".

They haven't made a clear statement yet, indicating whether they're willing to accept the imperial court's offer of amnesty.

Therefore, it was practically impossible to reward the leaders among them who were unwilling to follow Li Renxiao's rebellion at this time.

However, Yang Yuan didn't care about that. He had already given enough deterrence, and the necessary appeasement measures had to follow.

Whether it's useful now or not doesn't matter. The important thing is to use this method of making an example of someone to scare the rest, so that the wavering Western Xia nobles will lean more towards the Song Dynasty.

Emperor Zhao Dun naturally accepted Yang Yuan's "suggestion" completely.

The so-called second regent was merely a guest throughout the entire event and couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Having received the Emperor's statement, Yang Yuan said to the Three Judicial Offices: "Although Li Renxiao was once the Emperor of the Great Bai Gao Kingdom, now that he has submitted to our Great Song Dynasty and accepted the investiture of our Great Song Emperor, he is now a subject of our Great Song Dynasty."

His defection was treason, that is beyond doubt.

Yang Yuan sneered: "He is now a minister of the Song Dynasty, no longer the emperor, yet he still doesn't know how to restrain himself and refuses to behave."

In the past, Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty only wrote the line "The old country is unbearable to recall," yet Emperor Taizong of the Great Song Dynasty poisoned him on the grounds that he "harbored resentment." Why?
Because he was once the emperor, such a person could cause great damage to the country if he were to seize an opportunity to rebel, or if he were to be used by ambitious individuals to rebel in his name.

Therefore, how many people throughout history have been able to die peacefully like Liu Shan?
Our Song Dynasty emperor is benevolent and has always been lenient towards Li Renxiao, yet he attempted to rebel, a crime that cannot be forgiven.

Therefore, the three judicial departments should handle this case swiftly and give the people an explanation.

The three judicial chiefs all bowed their heads in submission.

After the three judicial officials left, Yang Yuan also took his leave.

He had spent three days at Ban Jing Guan, which delayed a lot of official business, and he needed to take care of it.

As soon as Yang Yuan left, Zhao Dun let out a long sigh of relief, plopped back down on the dragon throne, and was drenched in sweat.

When Zhao Kai saw that his face was pale and covered in cold sweat, he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Zhao Dun said in a trembling voice, "Brother, didn't you hear the Prime Minister's warning to us just now?"

Of the three Zhao brothers, the second eldest was the most honest and kind.

He asked blankly, "What did the Prime Minister say to us? I didn't understand."

Zhao Dun said, "The Prime Minister said that Li Renxiao was once an emperor. If such a person were to seize an opportunity to rebel, or be used by ambitious people to rebel under his name, the damage to the country would be too great."

So, how many people throughout history have been able to die a peaceful death like Liu Shan (A Dou)? Didn't you hear that?

Zhao Kai, still bewildered, asked, "I heard you, so what?"

"What's wrong, Your Majesty? Are you confused?"

Zhao Kai stamped his foot and said, "The Prime Minister also said that back then, Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty only wrote the line 'The old country is unbearable to recall,' and our Emperor Taizong of the Great Song Dynasty poisoned him on the grounds that he 'held resentment,' is that right?"

"Yup!"

"Then tell me, now that the eldest prince has been forced to abdicate, is it possible that someone might rebel under his banner?"

"what?"

"Second Emperor, think about it, it was only when the eldest brother was alive that the suppression of the prime minister began."

The Prime Minister deeply resented this, and during my reign, a large number of officials were forced to retire and return to their hometowns.

If any of them harbor resentment and attempt to restore the throne in the name of the eldest prince…

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kai couldn't help but feel nervous: "Then... what should we do?"

"Everyone involved in the Anshun Marquis's rebellion must be executed by dismemberment!"

Zhao Dun shuddered and grabbed the wrist of the Second King Zhao Kai.

Zhao Kai felt that the Emperor Zhao Dun's hands were as cold as ice.

Zhao Dun's voice became low and thin, like the hissing of a snake:
"Second brother, if eldest brother doesn't leave, our whole family will be in big trouble at any time!"

Let's...send our eldest brother away!

(End of this chapter)