Chapter 125: A Trial of Life and Death Ⅱ

He said: A morning petition climbs the Ninefold Heavens; by dusk I am exiled eight thousand li to Chaozhou’s road.Would I not sacrifice my wasted years to purge the realm of its taint for a wise sovereign?Clouds span the Qinling—where lies my home? Snow hems Bluish Pass—horses will not advance.Since thou hast come far with purpose, then take my bones and lay them by the miasmic river’s side. Since Li Linfu came to power he set up great prisons and wove charges like nets; those in court who would not bow were often sent forth from Chang’an to distant exile. The Crown Prince Li Heng, for having once plotted to aid Wang Zhongsi, had long been marked in Li Linfu’s sight as a troublesome heart. Li Linfu raised Yang Zhao to the censorate and commanded him to shadow every motion in the Eastern Palace; should any trace be found that linked a matter to the Prince—true or false—it was to be reported for impeachment and handed to Luo Xi and Ji Wen for interrogation and torture until guilt could be established. Yet though Li Linfu’s designs were elaborate, no ready opening presented itself. The Crown Prince was by nature filial, cautious and blameless in speech and deed; moreover Li Chenghao worked without at court to quell rumor and tend to men’s minds, and within the palace Gao Lishi ever stood before Xuanzong to shield him. Thus Li Linfu’s heavy strikes fell like blows upon cotton—no purchase to prize open a wound. It was Yang Zhao, abusing the power of surveillance, who ran wild in false accusation, dragging hundreds into ruin; the court and provinces were seized with fear. One dusk, while Li Linfu and his son Li Xiu strolled the rear gardens, they passed the workmen’s pavilion and saw hundreds of laborers in tatters, sweat-soaked, bearing stones and timber, breathing like oxen. Li Xiu paused long and pointed at them, speaking low to his father: “Father, you have sat in the chancellery these near twenty years and your hand reaches over court and realm; yet your enmities run deep and foes lie everywhere. Should disaster come in a day to ri