Li Shi originally wanted to protect Qiu Che.
He just defiled a woman - not to mention that he didn't care about Li Qingwu's daughter at all. Even if he did, he would not give up Qiu Che, a good tool who was just at hand.
At most, he would pretend to be a little bit and give a few words of admonition. Then he would suppress the matter and make it a family affair between the couple in the Princess Mansion.
It was over in a few days.
What he was most dissatisfied with in this matter was that Wu Xiang deliberately brought people to him - such a small matter had to be brought to the stage of a three-court trial. Isn't it obvious that he deliberately wanted to suppress Qiu Che's arrogance?
Suppressing Qiu Che was suppressing the emperor who supported her. Li Shi was of course very dissatisfied.
He felt that Wu Xiang really didn't take him, the emperor, seriously anymore, so when the few people were arguing just now, he was more determined to protect Qiu Che.
Not only protect him, but also protect him gloriously.
Didn't the last cliff fall incident give Qiu Che a hammer? If she had been wary of him, it would not be convenient for him to continue to control her.
In that case, I will give her a promotion and give her a sweet treat, so that she knows how much benefit it will bring to follow me.
Li Shi was thinking about it happily, but Qiu Che suddenly blew herself up, as if she didn't see his eyes.
Not only was he stunned, but who was not stunned?
Looking closely, Qiu Che's appearance seemed to be a little too delicate, with a kind of androgynous beauty.
She was calm and contented, and there was no trace of shyness when she walked. She was full of youthfulness.
If she didn't say it, wearing this men's official uniform, anyone would think that she was a young man with high spirits.
But when she said it, the sense of disobedience came out everywhere, the overly thin figure, the appearance of a pretty girl...
What's more, when Qiu Che took off his black gauze hat just now, the voice was not as low as a man's as before, but a clear, transparent and distinct female voice!
After the speechless shock, Li Shi was left with only a burst of anger and a deep sense of powerlessness:
self-destruction for such a small matter is simply... stupid!
Wu Xiang wants to slap him in the face, and Qiu Che wants to slap him too, right?
In front of so many important officials of the court, she revealed that she was a woman. How could such news be suppressed?
Isn't this telling the whole world that he, Li Shi, is a fool with no vision, who can't even tell whether his own minister is a man or a woman... and, he married his most beloved daughter to the other party? !
Thinking of this, Li Shi became even angrier.
But Prime Minister Wu came back to his senses and added fuel to the fire with a look of surprise: "Are you serious about what Lord Qiu said?"
Qiu Che looked back calmly, and a woman's voice was clearly visible: "Of course I am serious."
"However, my three reports are for the sake of justice - since I am a woman, I naturally cannot harm this Miss Lian... If what she said is true, then I have reason to suspect that it was my brother who did it. If she says it is false, it proves that there is a third participant in this matter." "
Your Majesty, I know that the crime of deceiving the king is unforgivable. I hope that with my own body, I have made several meritorious contributions since taking office, in exchange for a thorough investigation of the case of Qiu Chudong killing the virgin girl and the case of the Lian family being murdered."
She raised her hand calmly, kowtowed to the emperor and said, "I beg your majesty to grant me your blessing."
"Good, good, good!" Li Shi laughed angrily, "What a great way to kill relatives for the sake of justice, what a great way to clear the name of the crime by being a woman... Great! My dear Qiu, I was really fooled by you!"
The emperor succeeded in seizing power a few years ago because he was at odds with the empress dowager. He has always disliked female politicians the most, and Qiu Che knew that.
But she was calm at this time, and it was not fake.
Of course, she was not that stupid. She could speak up and reveal her identity at this time because this was the best time.
She originally planned to suppress the Qiu family with the case of Qiu Chudong killing a virgin, so that the father and son would never be able to turn over.
But the result of doing so was that even if the emperor valued her and could save her, the father and son of the Qiu family would definitely jump over the wall and expose her disguise as a man once they saw no way out.
At that time, her situation would become completely passive and she would have no advantage.
If only the emperor knew the truth, he would certainly use it to threaten Qiu Che to continue to work for him. At this time, Qiu Che knew that he hated female politicians, but still wanted to work with him, which was tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger.
If everyone in the world knew that she was a woman, her fate would be death for deceiving the emperor.
Qiu Che was worrying whether he should block the mouths of the father and son of the Qiu family so that they could not tell the secret, or should he expose himself first.
This incident happened first.
This gave Qiu Che some inspiration.
It is undeniable that he was also a little impulsive.
If a woman disguised as a man must be exposed one day, why can't it be now? Why can't it be at this moment?
In front of so many people, the news can't be concealed, but this life is different from the last life. She has made a lot of arrangements in advance for this day to come.
She has many allies. As long as the common interests are still there, they will do their best to save her. Moreover, she is not a dispensable sixth-rank official in the last life. She is now the backbone of the court. No matter how
angry the emperor is because she is a woman, it depends on how much merit she has made.
Can he convince the public by chopping off her head on the grounds of being a woman disguised as a man? If there is
another one percent possibility that the emperor really chopped her off, it is her fate.
Anyway, she has done what she should do.
If it doesn't work, she can try to escape from prison - Qiu Che thought with a smile.
I just don't know... whether Li Qingwu will follow her arrangement and divorce willingly.
If she divorces, that would be the best. Qiu Che doesn't have to worry about implicating her.
I'm just afraid of what to do if she refuses.
Qiu Che lowered his eyes and sighed secretly. It
was too hasty after all.
As expected, when what happened today happened, Prime Minister Wu was so happy that his mouth was grinning from ear to ear.
Li Shi was so angry that his chest rose and fell for a moment, but he suddenly coughed violently.
Then he shook his hands and ordered that the Qiu family, Qiu Che, and all the people involved in the case be imprisoned together, and their fate would be decided later.
Qiu Che got up quietly and was taken away by Liu Buxiu.
Before leaving, she took one last look at the emperor.
For some reason, she always felt that the other party's face was particularly pale.
She and the Qiu family were imprisoned separately. It is said that when Liu Buxiu led people to the Qiu Mansion, the father and son of the Qiu family gathered together and said happily, "Once we get the money, we won't have to worry anymore..."
When they were taken away, they were still confused and shouted that they wanted Qiu Che and others to punish them.
Then they were soon told by the Jinyiwei who sneered beside them that it was Qiu Che who put them in prison.
It was a pity that Qiu Che's self-explosion this time made the handle they thought they had the deepest grasp useless. Even
if they shouted at the top of their lungs in the imperial prison, Liu Buxiu ignored them.
Since Qiu Che was imprisoned, she has been quiet, either meditating or resting. She
has no sense of being a prisoner at all, and is natural and comfortable, as if she is not living in the imperial prison, but in her own home.
All her belongings were confiscated, leaving only an insignificant lotus jade pendant.
Qiu Che played with it almost every day, and no one knew what she was thinking.
On the other hand, Li Qingwu also received the imperial decree to imprison her.
Qiu Che's third-rank official position was directly stripped, saying that the sentence would be sent to the retrial of the case.
Considering that Li Qingwu was his most beloved daughter after all, Li Shi did not punish her immediately, but directly skipped her and asked her to pack up and go to the palace to meet the emperor immediately.
As for the Qiu family, the Jinyiwei later went to the Qiu Mansion to look for corpses, but found nothing.
The experienced old coroner pinched the soil on the ground and said that the soil smelled of rotten bones.
But this alone still cannot convict the Qiu family father and son.
If you follow the clues, as long as the Qiu family father and son have indeed done it, you can certainly find it with the chain of evidence in the memorials collected by Qiu Che.
It's just too time-consuming.
Liu Buxiu asked Qiu Che in the name of interrogation, but the other party hesitated for a moment and said: "... I don't have any other evidence."
He really couldn't bear to see the other party seem to have no will to live, so he sighed secretly, turned around and tentatively asked someone to bring a message to Li Qingwu.
He hinted that she needed her help to find witnesses.
Li Qingwu did think of the concubines she had helped Qiu Che to lobby personally before falling off the cliff the moment she received the message.
ââThirteen concubines, one died of illness, one died of dystocia after remarrying, and one was beaten to death by her later husband.
The remaining ones were concubines of wealthy families, and some had married civilians.
Li Qingwu persuaded them to come forward and testify for Qiu Chudong's murder of his daughter. It took a lot of effort, and finally he intimidated them by saying "If you don't stand up and testify after Qiu Chudong's crime is exposed, you will all be his accomplices."
This is the truth, but it makes people feel a little uncomfortable. When those concubines agreed to it, they were quite reluctant.
Qiu Che told Li Qingwu in the letter, forget it, they are all miserable people.
But Li Qingwu only cares about her safety and doesn't care about whether others are suffering.
She didn't even follow the eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict to the palace to see the emperor as soon as possible, but quickly got on the carriage and asked Fufeng to drive the carriage and take her to see those concubines.
Halfway through the journey, when the carriage was galloping, she suddenly stopped again.
Fufeng pulled the reins and said "whoa", pursed his lips and looked back, his expression was not very good: "Your Highness, what's wrong again?"
His Highness is good in everything, but when he encounters Qiu Che's matter, he seems to have lost his mind.
Now he has to go find witnesses in person... In this situation, how can Fufeng not worry? What if the emperor gets even more angry about this and blames Li Qingwu?
But the next moment, he heard a moment of silence in the carriage, and then heard a slightly hoarse voice: "... Turn around and go to the palace."
Fu Feng was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked: "Aren't you going to look for those concubines?"
"No."
"Why?"
"..." Li Qingwu didn't speak.
The carriage turned around, and the sound of galloping horses gradually sounded again.
In the car, Li Qingwu raised her hand and wiped away the tears on her cheeks with her fingertips expressionlessly.
She thought, it's strange that Qiu Che said that she is not a saint.
She is.
Li Qingwu has a narrow mind and has always only asked for one person to be safe and happy.
Later, she met Qiu Che, but she only asked that they could all be safe.
But Qiu Che is different from her.
You don't want me to find witnesses, which is your righteousness.
You don't want me to find them, but I have to find them, which is my worry.
In the end, I didn't go to find them. It was Li Qingwu who considered for a long time and chose to respect Qiu Che's decision.
This is what you want, and it is what I want.
However, since I can't help you escape the guilt, I can only take more risks for you.
Li Qingwu calmly bowed in front of the emperor and answered him in the same way, saying that she didn't know if there were any witnesses.
Li Shi was furious: "You bastard! You've been married to her for nearly half a year, and you said you don't know anything else, so you don't even know that she's a woman?! How did your chastity seal disappear?!"
Li Qingwu raised her eyes calmly and avoided the teacup he threw at her.
At this moment, it seemed as if time had overlapped to a few months ago.
It was also the father and daughter, and it was also here - but Li Qingwu was kneeling at that time, and she couldn't avoid the cup that was thrown at her.
Or rather - dare, but can't.
And now, her current situation is actually not much better than before, and is even more critical than Qiu Che who has been imprisoned.
But after a few months, she is no longer the Li Qingwu of the past.
Moreover, unlike the Li Qingwu who was at a loss and anxious enough to cry when Qiu Che was imprisoned in her previous life, she was well trained by Qiu Che.
Calm, rational, and also integrated with her original smoothness.
She is no longer at a loss, because she has grown into an ally who can stand shoulder to shoulder with Qiu Che.
Qiu Che is in prison, so she will have to stand up to fight the rest of the battle. She must
fight beautifully and loudly for Qiu Che.
Thinking this way, Li Qingwu showed the gold medal of immunity from death in his hand.
ââThat was the gold medal of immunity from death that Li Shi gave to her at her coming-of-age ceremony in order to show his love for the eldest princess.
Li Shi's expression changed: "...What do you mean? You want to protect Qiu Che?!"
Don't worry, it's different from the last life, you will be released from prison in glory (?)