The revitalization of the Tang Dynasty began with the Ganlu Incident.

Chapter 44: Slap in the Face

The people from the Eastern Depot have all left.

However, Li Xun's face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

A threat, a blatant threat!

The words that the so-called eunuch in charge of the Eastern Depot left behind were clearly a threat.

At this moment, feeling the gazes cast upon him and the whispers among the people around him, Li Xun felt his face burning with embarrassment.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and tidy up the yard!"

Li Xun roared angrily at the officials and soldiers around him, then flicked his sleeves and turned to walk towards the offices of the other prime ministers.

He refused to believe that with such a commotion outside, these people wouldn't have heard a thing.

Enraged, Li Xun didn't even bother with basic etiquette and slammed the door open.

Then he saw Wang Ya, Jia Su, and Shu Yuanyu sitting inside, with what seemed to be a document in the middle, all in silence.

Seeing him push open the door, Shu Yuanyu, who was on good terms with him, immediately opened his mouth as if to say something.

But before he could speak, Wang Ya said first, "Zhong Yan is here, please sit down."

Seeing the old man's calm expression as if nothing had happened, Li Xun became even more furious. He rushed over to the three of them in three quick steps and shouted angrily.

"Why are you still sitting?"

"Those eunuchs from the palace have already stormed into the Hall of State Affairs, and you're still sitting there?"

Looking at the furious Li Xun, Wang Ya remained calm and said.

"We have all seen what is happening outside. The palace has indeed gone too far this time, but it is indeed His Majesty's will to imprison Wang Fan. Before we understand the situation, it is best if we do not interfere."

"What does His Majesty mean?"

Li Xun was taken aback. Then, Shu Yuanyu, who was standing next to him, picked up the documents on the table and handed them to him, saying...

"Please take a look at this confession, Mr. Li..."

Upon hearing this, Li Xun looked down and immediately saw the two eye-catching words "Zheng Zhu" on it. He quickly read through the confession and immediately understood the meaning of Wang Ya's words.

But the more this was the case, the more apprehensive he felt.

He had anticipated this scenario when he learned that Zheng Zhu had been arrested, but he did not expect it to happen so quickly.

Although the testimony only targeted Wang Fan, what's next?

It should be noted that although Li Xun was not very involved in the Song Shenxi case, the bribery and corruption he and Zheng Zhu committed over the years were enough to give him a hard time.

Thoughts raced through his mind, but Li Xun quickly forced himself to calm down and said.

"Even if it involves the treasonous case from back then, Wang Fan is, after all, a military governor of the imperial court. How can he be so easily imprisoned and punished?"

"Moreover, I had never heard of this so-called Eastern Depot before. They claim that they can break into the Hall of State Affairs and arrest court officials simply by carrying an imperial edict."

"If this continues, where will the moral order be? Where will the dignity of a subject be?"

"Lord Wang, you are a veteran official and the Prime Minister. Don't you understand these principles better than I do?"

As the saying goes, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

Now that things have come to this, even someone as arrogant as Li Xun had to soften his tone and bow his head to ask Wang Ya for help.

But thanks to his usual arrogant attitude, Wang Ya was not moved at all by his appearance at this moment, and simply said...

"As the saying goes, haste makes waste. This newly emerged Eastern Depot is indeed acting against the rules, and we, as prime ministers, should certainly submit a memorial to advise them."

"But right now His Majesty is unwell and has even skipped the morning court session. Even if a memorial is submitted, His Majesty probably won't be in the mood to approve it. Instead, it will alert the powerful eunuchs in the palace."

"Therefore, what we should do now is to be patient for the time being, and wait until His Majesty recovers and summons us for an audience, then we can inquire about the details and offer our advice. It will not be too late then."

These words ignited Li Xun's anger once again.

How could he not understand what that old bastard Wang Ya meant? The other party was willing to sit back and watch the tigers fight, even at the risk of the Politburo losing face.

What nonsense! Haste makes waste. He can wait, but can Li Xun wait?

Zheng Zhucai has only been arrested for a few days, but he has already implicated Wang Fan. Who knows who he will implicate next?

If they had waited a few more days, it would have been Li Xun himself who ended up in jail!

At that moment, he couldn't help but stand up abruptly, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally landing on Shu Yuanyu and Jia Su, and he said coldly.

"Lord Shu, Lord Jia, do you also agree with what Lord Wang said?"

His tone was somber, suppressing his anger while also carrying an undisguised threat.

However, the two men's reactions greatly disappointed Li Xun.

They all turned their heads away and said, "Lord Li, we can't see His Majesty now, so even if we wanted to do something, we can't..."

"Fine, fine, fine!" Li Xun took two steps back, pointing at the two men opposite him with a mocking laugh, and said, "Since that's how it is, then you can just wait here in the Hall of State Affairs to be dealt with. Do you really think that if I, Li Xun, fall, you can escape unscathed? Humph!"

Immediately, Li Xun lost interest in talking to these people and turned away.

A silence fell over the hall, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.

After a moment, Shu Yuanyu was the first to lose his composure, leaning forward and calling out, "Prime Minister Wang..."

His tone carried a hint of pleading.

However, Wang Ya simply shook his head and ignored him. Instead, he turned to Jia Su, who was standing to the side, and said, "Things have come to this point. We both know what the Emperor's will is. Now, all we can do is try our best to save as many people as possible."

"Li Xun has probably gone to summon other ministers. Given this situation, neither you nor I can sit idly by. At such a sensitive moment, you must strongly urge the senior officials of various departments not to act rashly, otherwise, disaster will surely follow!"

Jia Su nodded, cupped his hands, and said, "I understand, I'll go right away."

After saying this, he bowed again and turned to leave in a hurry.

At this moment, only Wang Ya and Shu Yuanyu remained in the hall.

Shu Yuanyu lowered his head, looking somewhat dejected.

Seeing this situation, Wang Ya said, "Master Shu, the situation is critical. I won't say more, but given your relationship with Li Xun, it would be difficult for you to escape safely, let alone rescue Li Xun."

"The only thing you can do now is to do as I told you before: try your best to protect as many loyal and virtuous people as possible. In this way, there might still be some room for maneuver."

"Of course, if you are willing to follow Li Xun and be like a moth drawn to a flame, there is nothing I can do. The choice is yours."

After saying this, Wang Ya got up and, with the help of his servant, slowly returned to his official residence, leaving Shu Yuanyu sitting there with a complicated expression.

As the sky outside grew brighter, and after an unknown amount of time, Shu Yuanyu's expression finally hardened.

He slowly straightened up, reached out and called over the anxious servant beside him, exhaled a long breath, and said.

"Go and invite Hanlin Academician Gu, Censor Li, and Prefect Luo of the Capital Prefecture. Tell them I have something to discuss with them."