148 Framed
On Xiao Juan’s side, he suddenly received news from Meng Xizhou that the Eagle Guards had found Li Qiao’s whereabouts according to the portrait drawn by Yu Niaoniao.
Li Qiao was the president of a secret poetry club in the city called the Blue Sea Society.
The members of the association were all scholars. They all had a common characteristic, which was that they were talented but did not meet anyone.
It was easiest for people like them to resent the Imperial Court and the emperor.
Xiao Juan ordered to capture all the members of the Sea Association.
The Eagle Guards were extremely efficient.
That afternoon, all the members of the Sea Association were captured and locked up in the prison of the Justice Department.
Naturally, that included Li Qiao.
When Lo Pingsha heard this, he immediately put down his paintbrush and rushed to the prison to arrange the interrogation.
At first, those scholars gritted their teeth and refused to tell the truth.
After a few rounds of torture, one of them finally couldn’t take it anymore. It turned out that the anti-government poetry that was circulating on the market was all written by them.
Some of them had failed time and time again, and some of them had finally managed to get into the advanced examination. However, because no one recommended them, they had not been able to obtain official positions. After a few years, they were still on the bench.
The difficulty of studying hard and the dark side of officialdom made them hate the Imperial Court.
They hated the injustice of the world, the Imperial Court, and even more, the emperor.
Anti-government poetry was a tool they used to vent their anger.
Initially, the anti-government poetry they wrote was only passed on to one another in private, until Li Qiao suddenly suggested that he could help print them into books and publish them without anyone noticing.
At first, everyone was still skeptical. Only when Li Qiao really released the book containing the anti-government poetry did everyone completely believe him.
Li Qiao used this opportunity to build his reputation in the poetry club and became the president.
Lo Pingsha personally interrogated Li Qiao.
To Luo Pingsha’s surprise, before he could get someone to torture him, Li Qiao confessed everything in one go.
“It was Prince Min who asked me to print those anti-government poetry poems into a book. He has long been dissatisfied with the current emperor. They are brothers, but the current emperor can sit on the throne and enjoy the people’s worship. He can only be a powerless and idle prince. He is indignant! He wants the anti-government poetry to spread among the people and use it to discredit the emperor’s image in the hearts of the people.”
Lo Pingsha handed this statement to Duke Lang.
After reading the contents of the confession, Xiao Juan asked, “How much truth do you think are in these words?”
Lo Pingsha answered honestly, “He spoke with conviction and seemed to be telling the truth, but I don’t think his words are trustworthy.”
Xiao Juan put down the confession. “Why do you think so?”
“He confessed too quickly as if he had expected it. Taking a step back, even if the anti-government poetry case was really instigated by Prince Min, why would Prince Min keep a hidden danger like Li Qiao?
People like Li Qiao, who knew a lot, would either have to stay under their noses and be watched closely, or he would be killed and be done with it. They would definitely not let him run around outside. I keep feeling that there’s something fishy about this.”
Xiao Juan tapped his index finger lightly on the table. “You mean, someone is deliberately luring the Eagle Guards to find Li Qiao and use him to frame Prince Min?”
Lo Pingsha inclined his head in agreement.
At that moment, Meng Xizhou walked in.
“Your Highness, someone from the palace has arrived. They said that the emperor has summoned you to the palace.”
Xiao Juan’s gaze landed on the confession again.
He had just made arrests and the people from the palace arrived. Wasn’t this too fast?
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