Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

"The king's life belongs to Da Song and His Majesty! Whether it is life or death has nothing to do with you!"

"My lord, didn't you and Zhang Peng plan the assassination? Otherwise, why did you take the troupe in and give them money to find a house for them?"

"Nonsense! What a plan! The Zhang Peng you mentioned has never been heard of by the king! The troupe is a matter of my ignorance! I took it in with good intentions, but I didn't expect it to cause such a catastrophe!"

"But the emperor believes that you are the mastermind! If you don't leave, you will die!"

"This king will not leave! One day His Majesty will know that this king is innocent!"

"At that time, my lord, you will die!"

"What joy in life, what fear in death! My words and deeds are worthy of the Song Dynasty! Even under the nine springs, I will rest my eyes!"

"But the princess and the prince and princess will die too!"

"They won't blame me! They will only hate you thieves!"

"My lord, you are crazy! Why are you so stubborn when we entered the prison to save you!"

"Don't need to say too much! The imperial guards will arrive in a while, and you can either capture him without a fight, or kill this king now!"

At this time, a large number of imperial guards rushed to the prison, and Taizong and Zhao Pu also came over. Zhao Pu pointed to the man in black and said, "Brave maniac! He even broke into the prison! He is arrested without letting go!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" said the man in black. "Arrested without a fight? We are crazy!"

Zhao Pu waved his hand, "Come here! Take them all down!"

"Stop!" The masked man held the knife close to Defang's neck, "If you come over again, I'll kill him!"

Zhao Pu looked at Taizong, "Your Majesty, the prince is in their hands."

"Who are you? Why did you break into the prison?" Taizong asked

"We rescued the prince!"

"What? Save the prince?" Taizong smiled, "Then why did you put the knife on the prince's neck?"

"He won't leave, but we will!" said the masked man

"Your Majesty!" Defang said, "I don't know them!"

"Don't know?" Taizong looked at Defang, "Then why did they rush into the prison? Why are they in your cell?"

"Chen... I don't know..." Defang couldn't explain it himself, he didn't know any of these people.

"I don't know? Hmph! I think you are all in the same group!" Taizong looked at several people and said, "You want to pretend to hold him hostage and escape together!"

"Your Majesty! No!" Defang hurriedly explained, "I really don't know them!"

"Nephew, you said you didn't buy the assassins, so who are these people? They are clearly on the same team as the assassins! Aren't they here to save you today?"

"No, Your Majesty! I am wronged!"

The masked man moved his knife and said, "Okay! Stop talking! Let us go! Otherwise, I will kill him now!"

Taizong said, "He is the person you want to save. Do you dare to kill him?"

"It can't be saved now!"

"Can't be saved?" Taizong pointed at the masked man, "Then you are all going to die now!"

The masked man knelt down, put the blade against Defang's neck, and held his shoulders tightly and said, "Your Highness is a felon in prison now, but he hasn't been convicted yet. Of course it's okay for His Majesty to kill us, but His Highness must die before us. At that time, everyone will say that the emperor killed his nephew because of a few petty thieves!"

"You!" Taizong was furious upon hearing this, "You dare to threaten me!"

"The man is in our hands! Try it if you don't believe me!" shouted the masked man

Taizong frowned and looked at Defang with contradictions in his eyes. Defang glared at the masked man sideways and said, "Thief! This king will never let you use this king to threaten His Majesty! I will not let you out of the prison!" "Then said to Taizong, "Your Majesty! I have never thought of killing the king from the beginning to the end. Your loyalty to your majesty can be learned from the sun and the moon! Please trust me! All this is caused by me, and I am willing to use my life to prove my innocence!"