Acacia, don't be negative

Chapter 365

Li Xiang cried so distraught that he almost wanted to let go of his anger.

Su Ruoqing ignored it, took out another brocade box from his sleeve, threw it in front of Li Xiang, and said, "Open it and have a look."

Li Xiang didn't dare to disobey, so he had to open it with trembling hands.Inside was a stack of yellowed papers, and he took out the top one. The handwriting on it was exactly the same as the handwriting on the letters Su Ruoqing had thrown all over the room just now.

Li Xiang suddenly felt as if struck by lightning, and he was beyond redemption.

Su Ruoqing said: "At the beginning, when Rongdi invaded Beixia, you communicated with Rongdi, and you did not hesitate to make Beixia lose the battle and use the city to reconcile as a condition, and you also wanted Rongdi to kill Ye Xiu and Ye Song. Li Gu went to the battlefield for internal and external use. The black and white words on it are all written in your own handwriting, and Rong Di's reply letter is clearly written. You can look at it and see if you still remember what you have done. "

"This, these, how come..." Li Xiang's eyes widened, and his eyes were full of despair.

Su Ruoqing looked at Li Xiang, and said indifferently: "You mean these correspondences, we agreed to burn them after both of you have read them so as not to leave any clues. It's a pity that I intercepted the letters. I had someone transcribe it."

Because he was dissatisfied with General Ye who had repeatedly made outstanding achievements and held military power, he had been fighting with him for decades.Unexpectedly, in the end, he was defeated by himself.He underestimated Su Ruoqing, his ability, his endurance, and his ability to plan the overall situation too much.

It turned out that Su Ruoqing knew everything early in the morning.

"A collaborator with the enemy and a traitor", Su Ruoqing said without emotion, "According to the Northern Xia law, everyone should be executed. The person who killed Li Gu was not Ye Song, but the teacher himself. If Li Gu If he survives a catastrophe and returns to Beijing, what I will allow him is definitely not the glory and wealth, but the death penalty."

Li Xiang forgot his fear, and all that was left was despair.He crawled to Su Ruoqing's feet, stretched out his arms and hugged Su Ruoqing's feet, kowtowed and begged for mercy: "I know my mistakes, I know my mistakes! I beg the emperor to be magnanimous. For the sake of the old minister's hard work all these years, I beg the emperor to show mercy." The old minister knows that the death penalty is inevitable, so please forgive the other people in the prime minister's house, and, and... Ruyi has already married into the palace, and is no longer a member of my Li family, please don't blame her ..."

Su Ruoqing's eyes looking at Li Xiang finally loosened a bit, tinged with compassion, and said, "What if I don't allow it?"

Li Xiang paused, said nothing, and kowtowed to Su Ruoqing until his forehead was broken and bleeding.He is already old, and death is not a pity, and there is no way out now. Since he is doomed to die, the only thing he can do is to protect the lives of the hundreds of people in the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Ruyi's life and his Li family. A reputation built up over the years.

In the end, Li Xiang begged pitifully: "Your Majesty, it is because of the old minister who helped the Emperor..."

Su Ruoqing closed his eyes, he was able to sit where he is today, it was really because Li Xiangla helped him back then.He lowered his eyes, couldn't distinguish the look in his eyes, stood up with a flick of his sleeves, turned around resolutely, walked out and said coldly: "I will grant you whatever you ask for. You know what to do."

Li bowed and kowtowed in Su Ruoqing's direction, thanking Dade, "Old minister, thank you Lord Long En! This old minister respectfully sends the emperor—"

In the early morning of the next day, Li Xiang, the head of all officials, always went to court on time, except when he was at home due to illness, he was rarely late.However, all the officials of the court stood in their respective places this morning, and the position of the head was empty, and Li Xiang didn't speak for a long time.

Su Ruoqing came out from the back hall, and the father-in-law beside him sang loudly: "Ascension to the court—"

As soon as he sat down, he saw the vacant seat of the head of the hundred officials at the first sight. There was no expression on his face, and he didn't speak immediately, as if he was waiting for something.If he didn't speak, the officials would not dare to speak first.

Not long after, from the palace gate to the court hall, reports were made layer by layer.

The palace people outside hurried into the court hall, knelt on the ground with their knees bent, and said: "My Majesty, the Prime Minister was found dead at home this morning, and only this letter is left behind."

As soon as this remark came out, all officials were in an uproar.It is unbelievable that a person who was still boasting in the court yesterday hanged himself this morning.

The father-in-law next to Su Ruoqing walked down, took the letter and presented it to him.He was silent for a while, and his voice suddenly became a bit vicissitudes, and said: "Read it out."

So the father-in-law read the suicide note in front of all the officials.The general meaning is that Li Xiang felt that eating the king's salary could not be loyal to the king. He was ashamed of the king and Bei Xia. If he was given a choice, he would give up literature and follow the military, and splash blood on the battlefield to serve the country.

After the father-in-law finished reading, there was a long silence in the courtroom.Then all the officials knelt down and called Li Xiang Dayi directly.

Su Ruoqing posthumously named Li Xiang the Duke of Wei, and buried him with royal ceremonies.Now that the matter has come to this point, he can be regarded as repaying Li Xiang's kindness for many years. In the end, he saved the lives of no one in the Li family, and also preserved Li Xiang's reputation throughout his life.

Li Ruyi fainted on the spot after hearing the news of his father's death.Her body is not as good as before, and she has been living a peaceful life in the palace, which is as luxurious as she thought in the past, but her heart has always been empty.Now, the only support from her natal family is gone, and from then on she is truly alone.

Li Ruyi returned to her natal family and took care of Li Xiang's affairs with her own hands.Put the coffin into the coffin, accept the condolences and sacrifices of colleagues.

When all the people who came and went to pay homage dispersed, it was already night without knowing it.The cold wind blew the white silk flowers on the door plaque fluttering.Su Ruoqing was dressed in black, and slowly walked in. He was the last person to come to pay homage.

Li Ruyi's back was very thin, and she was kneeling on the futon. The fire in the brazier in front of her was a little weak, and she quietly burned paper money into the brazier.Before that, people kept coming to persuade her, her body was weak and she couldn't bear such a torment, so she couldn't listen to it.

Li Ruyi didn't cry, and there was no expression on her face.Probably, there is nothing more sad than heart-death, which is what she said.

Su Ruoqing approached, looked at the luxurious golden nanmu coffin in the mourning hall, and personally burned a stick of incense and inserted it into the incense burner.He looked sideways at Li Ruyi, and said after a while, "Ruyi, my condolences will change."

Li Ruyi twisted a few pieces of paper money and put them into the brazier, the fire reflected her pale face, she smiled faintly, with deep sadness and disappointment in that smile, and said: "The most I heard today is this sentence , no less than a hundred times. Is this the only thing the emperor said to his concubines?"

Su Ruoqing asked calmly: "You want to hear what I have to say."

Li Ruyi said: "Although my father's life was not spectacular, he has always been a hard-working and positive person. Everything he got in the prime minister's mansion today, and everything I have now, was earned by him. I can't understand better than that, father is not the kind of person who would hang himself to death after leaving a letter casually." She took out the last letter written by Li Xiang from her bosom, her eyes turned red quietly, and she raised her eyes to settle down. Looking at Su Ruoqing anxiously, "There are ink stains blurred by tears on it. My father had no choice but to do so. Can the emperor tell my concubine what and who forced my father to do so?"

Su Ruoqing just looked down at her and didn't speak.

Li Ruyi knelt stiffly, she tried to stand up with her hands on the ground, staggered a little, walked to Su Ruoqing's side, looked up at him, blinked, her eyes were slightly moist, as if she wanted to Seriously seeing the true face of the man in front of him, he said: "In this world, there is only one person who can persecute my father. That is the emperor."

Before Su Ruoqing could answer, Li Ruyi impatiently grabbed Su Ruoqing's lapel, shook him vigorously, and said, "Why, tell me why? I already have nothing because of you, and now I am ruined because of your family! What do I owe you? You want to treat me like this! You will not let go of my last relative in this world! Is your heart made of iron and stone! "

Su Ruoqing said: "When pursuing what others owe you, you should think about what you have done. Nothing in this world happens for no reason, it has its causal cycle." He held his finger Li Ruyi's side face forced her to raise her head with a slight force, and tears quickly filled the red eyes, which slid from the corners of her eyes and dripped on Su Ruoqing's fingers, "I didn't do anything sorry except that I don't love you. What I did, everything I did was just to deal with you doing all the things you shouldn’t do because you love me. This is the cause and effect. The same is true for your father. Things that shouldn't be done."

Li Ruyi blinked, tears streaming down her eyes.She shook her head hard, unwilling to believe it.

"Did you love me from the very beginning, not because of my status and wealth, not because of my appearance and temper, could you have rashly married me when you had never met me before?" Su Ruoqing said again, "You chose this path yourself. Even if you end up with nothing, you tried to get too much at the beginning. You should feel lucky that I became the emperor, otherwise, at this moment, all of you Li family, up and down, have all gone The scaffold."

It was the first time he explained so much to Li Ruyi, and it was also the first time he confided his thoughts to her.But it sounds so cruel.

There are many things that he can only keep in his heart and figure out by himself.There are also many people who don't understand the difficulty and bitterness of his choice, so many people don't know the truth of the matter and forcefully put a hat on him.

He is the emperor, these are inevitable.For people who don't care, he doesn't need to spend time explaining at all.

What about Li Ruyi, is he the one he cares about?Probably because during this period of time, I had too many grievances and entanglements with her.

(End of this chapter)