The yard is not big, there are only seven or eight houses in total, but the doors and windows are all carved with various patterns, which look quite exquisite.
Taking Xiao Chen to a room that looked like a living room, the guard bowed his body slightly and lowered his head and said, "Sir, please wait here for a moment. I will go and report to the Master."
After saying that, he bowed and retreated.
Xiao Chen raised his head and looked around.
This living room is basically the same as an ordinary large family home.
On the right side of the door, next to the wall, is a row of dark red antique shelves. Several delicate-looking blue and white porcelain vases are randomly placed on them.
The wall near the right hand side is very empty. An ancient sword without a scabbard is firmly fixed on the wall by several square iron nails.
Looking at the ancient sword, Xiao Chen sneered in his heart.
Could it be that Li An, the Minister of Punishment, likened himself to a sharp sword, cutting off the cancer of the imperial court for the emperor?
While Xiao Chen was waiting for Li An in the living room, Li An was in a secret room, receiving a middle-aged man with a mysterious identity.
"Bang bang bang." Three rhythmic knocks came from the door of the secret room.
Hearing these three sounds, Li An's expression changed slightly. He gave the mysterious middle-aged man a few instructions in a low voice, then opened the small door and stepped out.
At the door is his butler and confidant Wang Wencheng.
"What's going on?" Li An asked softly.
In his own mansion, Wang Wencheng would never knock on the small door of the secret room unless there was something particularly important, and he would do it three times in a row in a very urgent manner.
"Sir, the guards have come to report that the purple-clad captain Xiao Chen has arrived at the house and is waiting in the living room." Wang Wencheng lowered his voice next to Li An's body.
This Wang Wencheng was once a member of the Tiance Guards. In the 14th year of Yongle, when the King of Han was stripped of his imperial robes by Ming Chengzu and imprisoned in the Xihua Gate in preparation for demoting him to a commoner, he was implicated.
Finally, he was rescued by Li An, who was the Minister of Punishment at the time, and joined the Li Mansion as a servant.
This Wang Wencheng was agile, thoughtful, and loyal to Li An, and he soon became the chief steward of Li Mansion.
"Xiao Chen? Why is he here?" Li An exclaimed in a low voice.
In the past few days, while others were away from the capital, he was contacting all the officials, preparing to take off his imperial purple robe and remove it. Why did he come back at this juncture and arrive at his residence?
Although he had been trying his best to target Xiao Chen, he still remembered that on the execution platform outside the Meridian Gate that day, Xiao Chen relied on his sharp tongue to tell the eloquent Cang Cheng and voluntarily offered his head.
, I still couldn’t help but feel a chill in my heart.
Today, he suddenly appeared in his mansion. He must have come with bad intentions.
"How many people did he come with in total?" Li An asked in a low voice.
"He's the only one here, and he's here in casual clothes." Wang Wencheng bowed and answered.
Li An put his hands behind his back and walked back and forth at the door of the secret room.
Alone, in casual clothes, did Xiao Chen hear the rumors in the court and come to plead with him?
Li An shook his head.
Impossible, he definitely didn't come to plead with me.
To be gifted with unicorn purple clothes by the emperor, and to be able to use words to make Cangcheng willing to climb onto the guillotine, this Xiao Chen is definitely not an ordinary person.
He came today because he must have wanted to threaten himself and stop holding him accountable.
After thinking for a while, Li An shook his head again.
If he really wanted to threaten him, he should be wearing unicorn purple clothes. And what on earth did he want to do when he came here in casual clothes today?
"Go and tell him that I'm not here." Li An said coldly.
"Isn't this appropriate, my lord? This person is the one who was given the gift of purple clothes by the emperor. Seeing him is like the emperor's presence in person. If you don't go to see him, I'm afraid it will just leave him with something to talk about." Then Wang Wencheng bowed.
Shen said.
"Now all the officials in the court have unanimously pointed their finger at him. Sooner or later, that purple coat will be stripped off." Li An snorted coldly.
When he beheaded Cang Cheng outside the Meridian Gate, Li An became extremely angry. If Lord Hong Tianren, the Minister of War, had not persuaded him to retreat, everyone would have rushed up to argue with him.
Li An really didn't know if he would be unable to control his emotions after meeting Xiao Chen and argue with him again.
Seeing Li An's angry state, Wang Wencheng spoke again.
"Sir, even if it is tomorrow, the officials can take off Xiao Chen's purple clothes, but today, the purple clothes are still on him. As long as he wears purple clothes for one day, we can only suffer for one day. If there is any
From neglect and disrespect, we can only suffer the consequences."
"My lord should be very clear about who the emperor is. The reason why the emperor is not angry now is because we have signed a letter from hundreds of officials. Therefore, before the goal is achieved, your lord cannot lose the big for the small."
With a pair of small eyes flashing, Wang Wencheng said slyly.
"That's all, I'm going to see him right now. I want to see what Xiao Chen's purpose is in coming here." With that said, Li An walked towards the living room of the mansion.
In the living room, Xiao Chen saw that the Minister of Punishment had not shown up for a long time, and he had already guessed something.
Either they reject themselves from the bottom of their hearts and don’t want to meet with them at all. Or they deliberately delay time and indirectly express that they don’t take themselves seriously at all.
In fact, before that, Xiao Chen's plan was to treat Li An politely and ask him why he was targeting him.
As a minister of the Ministry of Justice, it is impossible not to know what the purple clothes represent, and it is even more impossible not to know that bumping into the purple clothes is tantamount to bumping into the emperor.
As for whether Cang Cheng's death was unjust or not, Li An should know it very well.
If Li An knew the current affairs, he would like to ask why Hao Hao suddenly wanted to go against the emperor and attack Zi Yi.
If Li An is already terminally ill, he doesn't mind and makes Li An the second Cang Cheng to establish his imperial authority.
As for the two positions of minister being vacated at once, there are many people in the court who are eyeing the position of minister. If there is one less Cangcheng, the Ministry of Rites can still operate, and if there is one less Li An, the Ministry of Punishment can also operate.
"Oh, it's so late for the Colonel to actually come to the humble abode. It really makes the humble abode shine." A voice came from the door. Li An was dressed in a second-grade official uniform of the imperial court. With his hands behind his back and a smile, he raised his left leg and stepped over.
The threshold of the living room.
Seeing that Li An was smiling but not smiling at all, and didn't even have the courtesy to hold his hands, Xiao Chen sat on the chair without even raising his buttocks.
His left hand was placed casually on the table, his eyes were smiling like two crescent moons, his legs were crossed, and he was staring at Li An without answering Li An's words.
Seeing Xiao Chen's look, Li An realized that Xiao Chen was already a little angry.
Even if the other party is just a Dongchang captain, he is wearing purple clothes after all. Calling him this way is indeed a bit too self-righteous.
At that moment, he changed his title: "Master Ziyi, why are you here tonight?"
With his hands behind his back, he still had no intention of saluting.
