200 Pushing the Blame
Song Rentong stood up so suddenly that Li Tianyi and the guard commander were taken aback.
Li Tianyi patted his chest and complained, “Lord Song, it’s not that I want to pick on you, but you’re already the Grand Secretary of our Heavenly Saint Dynasty. Can you be a little more composed?”
Song Rentong did not reply. He just looked at Li Tianyi and repeated, “I remember who he is!”
Li Tianyi looked puzzled. “Who is who? Lord Song, what are you talking about?”
“The scholar today!”
Song Rentong suddenly became excited. “Back then, when I accompanied the diplomatic corps to visit the Great Yong Dynasty, I saw him. His name is Xuan Wushang, and he’s the current emperor of the Great Yong Dynasty!”
“What?!”
Li Tianyi and the guard commander exclaimed at the same time. Their first reaction was disbelief. Why would the emperor of the Great Yong Dynasty suddenly come to their Heavenly Saint Dynasty’s palace?
However, seeing that Song Rentong did not look like he was joking, the two of them had no choice but to believe him.
“In that case, I’m afraid His Majesty was really abducted by the Great Yong Dynasty.”
The guard commander spoke in a low voice. His expression could not be seen in the darkness, but his voice was clearly trembling.
Li Tianyi didn’t say anything. He still couldn’t understand how it happened.
Two days ago, he personally accompanied His Majesty into the imperial study. After that, Huo Qiyun came. The two of them said that they had something to discuss and asked him to go out. After that, he had been guarding the door of the imperial study. When was His Majesty abducted?
“But when was His Majesty abducted?”
Song Rentong suddenly asked, as if he knew what Li Tianyi was thinking.
Li Tianyi shook his head in confusion. Song Rentong panicked and grabbed Li Tianyi’s collar. He widened his eyes and questioned angrily, “You’ve been waiting by the door for the past two days. You…”
Before he could finish speaking, Song Rentong suddenly thought of something and his expression changed drastically. “Li Tianyi! Did you collude with the enemy to abduct His Majesty?”
As soon as these words were spoken, the expression of the guard commander changed. He unsheathed his sword and placed it accurately on Li Tianyi’s neck.
“Lord Song, what you said makes sense!”
The guard commander said with a dark expression, “Ever since that assassin was caught and killed by Commander Lin some days ago, I’ve mobilized more guards to patrol the palace. If not for the fact that there are collaborators in the palace, how could they take His Majesty away without anyone knowing?”
Song Rentong and the guard commander looked at each other and felt that this deduction made sense. The way they looked at Li Tianyi became even more unfriendly.
At this moment, Li Tianyi was scared silly. He felt a cold feeling on his neck and cold sweat broke out on his forehead in streams.
“I, I, I…”
Li Tianyi stammered for a long time, making him look even more suspicious.
Seeing this, Song Rentong was almost immediately certain that Li Tianyi was the “collaborator”.
He said to the guard commander sternly, “Keep an eye on this traitor here! I’ll get someone to inform the Ministry of Justice and send him to the prison for interrogation by torture!”
Hearing the words “interrogation by torture”, Li Tianyi knelt on the ground with a plop, his face as pale as paper. Although he had never been sent to the prison, he had sent countless people to the prison.
Ever since the Heavenly Saint Dynasty was established, no one who was sent to the prison had come out alive!
The fear of death instantly overwhelmed him. Li Tianyi’s vision darkened, and he could no longer see Song Rentong clearly. He could only hear the heavy footsteps of the other party echoing in his ears.
If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely be so frightened that their minds would go blank. However, Li Tianyi was someone who had served three emperors in a row.
Under the threat of death, Li Tianyi’s mind raced.
He did not know when the empress was abducted, but he could find clues in other ways. For example, when was the last time he heard the empress’s voice?
His mind raced. The past two days seemed to have turned into countless images that lay out in his mind.
In the past, when she was dealing with some confidential matters, the empress would also send others away. However, Li Tianyi would always stand guard at the door. He could vaguely hear the rustling sound of the documents being flipped.
As he filtered the fragments of his memory, Li Tianyi slowly frowned. After all, he was already dozens of years old. This kind of recalling was not easy for him, but fortunately, he made it.
“It’s Lin Ran!”
Li Tianyi shouted, “Two days ago, His Majesty specially conferred Lin Ran the title of general. I don’t know when he came, but after he and Huo Qiyun left, I didn’t hear anything in the imperial study! With his cultivation, he can definitely take His Majesty away quietly!”
After shouting this, Li Tianyi suddenly felt relieved.
His darkened vision also returned to normal. The time Song Rentong took to take seven or eight steps felt like a year to Li Tianyi.
At the mention of Lin Ran, Song Rentong’s expression turned solemn.
The guard commander at the side had a disdainful expression. “You traitor! Even if you want to find someone to take the blame, you should find someone better. Lord Lin has saved His Majesty many times. Why would he conspire with the enemy to abduct His Majesty?”
“Maybe that’s just his way of obtaining His Majesty’s trust.”
Song Rentong said coldly and walked back quickly. “After I took office, when I read the documents left behind by Zhang Yueheng, I realized that Lin Ran was the biggest suspect in the theft case of the Sacred Abyss Sword some days ago!”
Only the emperor and the Grand Secretary had the right to read the secret documents of the Five Elements Imperial Guards. It was naturally impossible for Li Tianyi and the guard commander to know the inside story. Now that they heard Song Rentong mention this, their expressions instantly changed!
…
In Nanjiang Town, the Great Yong Dynasty.
Lin Ran sped up under the cover of the night. In just a few hours, he arrived at Nanjiang Town in the central region of the Great Yong Dynasty.
This town was built on the north side of a large river. It was not big and had about 600 to 700 families. On the south side of the river was a low mountain with dense vegetation. Lin Ran and the empress were hiding here.
Just as the two of them were looking around, a small boat suddenly appeared on the river.
Lin Ran immediately gestured for the empress to keep quiet. However, just as he was about to keep his internal energy down, he suddenly felt an itchiness in his nose and sneezed loudly!
“Achoo!”
The sneeze sounded like a thunderclap in the quiet night.
Almost at the same time, Lin Ran realized that a divine sense was sweeping towards him!
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