A smile of relief flashed across Xiao Tingyan's eyes. He took Yun Luan into his arms, hugged her tightly and comforted her softly. "Don't panic... Although things are a bit beyond our expectations. But it's not impossible. Turn the tide. This time, I underestimated Xiao Xuanrui's cruelty... Next time, I won't let him break the game so easily. There is a secret chess piece that I have always kept. At the critical moment, he will exert great power. .”

"After Zhao Waner's incident, this also indirectly shows that Xiao Xuanrui can kill his mother for his own rights, and naturally he can also deal with the emperor for power. We can force Zhao Waner to attack the emperor, can't we induce Xiao Xuanrui to leave too? This way?"

At the beginning, Xueyuan who was inserted into the palace by Duan Wangan was actually the person arranged by Xiao Tingyan. Xueyuan was a mission impossible existence... She seemed to be working for Prince Duan, but in fact she was loyal to Xiao Tingyan. Now, after Zhao Waner is dead, It was also time to put Xueyuan back into the palace. As for Eunuch Zhou, he was also the chess piece that Xiao Tingyan had placed beside the emperor. As early as he realized that Xiao Xuanrui could defeat his plan, he asked Eunuch Zhou to instigate rebellion. Taking the initiative to inform Xiao Xuanrui... all of this can be said to be a plan within a plan, one link within another. Even if this plan fails, he can adjust it at any time and use these chess pieces again to lay out another chessboard. Besides, the most important trump card , has not appeared yet. This chess game has just begun... it is far from ending. Yun Luan's eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked up at Xiao Tingyan. "Yeah, I didn't expect this. .For a crazy, despicable and shameless person like Xiao Xuanrui, what can’t he do for the so-called power?”

"Ayan, maybe we can force him. Completely force out his animal nature..." Xiao Tingyan pursed her lips and smiled, nodding lightly. His thin lips landed softly on her forehead: "Yes, now, the real battle has just begun. We have been planning for many days, so naturally we cannot fail."

Yun Luan's originally gloomy mood gradually improved. Xiao Tingyan sent her back to the general's mansion. With Zhao Waner's departure, Kyoto became very quiet for several days. In these days, the emperor took drastic measures to control the forces in the court. , and made some rectifications. At the same time, he issued an imperial edict and ordered all his princes to go to court and participate in government affairs... If anyone performs well and makes a lot of achievements, he will make him the prince in the end. He has no intention of doing so. He evasively explained that his criteria for appointing a prince were no longer based on the previous rules of establishing a direct descendant. Instead, he appointed the most capable person. Whoever performed well would be the final winner. The emperor found it casually. For this reason, Xiao Xuanrui was reinstated as Prince Rui. Many people in the court held objections, but the emperor turned a blind eye, fought against all opinions, and despite pressure from all parties, still restored Xiao Xuanrui's title of Prince Rui. For this reason, Prince Duan was extremely angry. , but dare not speak out. He has secretly contacted Xiao Xuanmo and Prince Ming more than once. Now, they are the only four princes who can participate in the competition to seize the rightful son... As long as he can unite with the other two to deal with it together Xiao Xuanrui is the most troublesome, so the possibility of him being established as the crown prince is extremely high. Unfortunately, he invited Xiao Xuanmo several times, but Xiao Xuanmo always found excuses to refuse. On the contrary, Prince Ming was quite happy to marry Prince Duan. Cooperation. The two hit it off and cooperated secretly. Within a few days, they secretly set up Xiao Xuanrui several times. For a while, the battle between Duan Wang Ming Wang and Xiao Xuanrui slowly began. However, on the fifth day, several ministers who were attached to Xiao Xuanrui were all exposed for corruption and bribery. People from Dali Temple broke into the mansion and found no less than hundreds of thousands of taels of stolen money. The evidence was conclusive, and those ministers could not Sophistry. The emperor was furious and immediately issued an order to confiscate the homes of those ministers. The men were exiled and the women were sold into slavery. There was an undercurrent in Kyoto, and the two forces were secretly competing... Many ministers were frightened and did not dare to take sides easily. However, even if you don't take sides, you will be forced to make a choice in the end. Zhongyong Hou is Dong Yong, Yunluan's father, and he is the type who is forced to join Xiao Xuanrui's command. Originally, he was He wanted to be alone and did not want to participate in any party fights. But who knew that he was caught by Xiao Xuanrui... Mrs. Hou's face was pale, she knelt on the ground and cried helplessly with tears: "Master Hou, there is nothing I can do about it. , please take pity on my natal brother, raise your noble hand and save his life."

Her natal brother was stupid and fell in love with a married young woman. The young woman would rather die than follow her, so she hit her head against the wall and died on the spot. Later, the young woman's husband learned about this and went to find her brother angrily. To settle the score, in order to prevent this matter from leaking out, her brother simply killed the man without any hesitation. Originally, they hid this matter well, but who knew that Prince Rui would find out about it. Prince Rui In the past few days, I sent a letter to Mrs. Hou's natal family. Her natal family was confused and begged Mrs. Hou to come here. Mrs. Hou suddenly felt that one was bigger than the other. When she went back to her natal family, her elderly parents They all knelt in front of her, forcing her to find a way to keep her brother no matter what. Mrs. Hou went to see Prince Rui in person. Prince Rui didn't say a word, and told her straightforwardly that if she wanted to expose this matter, The Zhongyong Hou Mansion must be brought under his command. Otherwise, there is no need to discuss anything. If he presents the evidence of Mrs. Hou's brother's indiscriminate killing to Dali Temple... then her brother will never be able to continue to live. Killing requires a life, and it is two lives. ... No matter who this matter is placed on, it is a serious consequence that cannot be borne. No one can save her brother. Mrs. Hou was really forced to do nothing, and she personally watched her brother grow up, as if Her own child, how could she bear to watch her brother die? So she begged in front of Mr. Hou. Dong Yong looked at Mrs. Hou with an ugly face, raised his hand and gave her a hard slap in the face. : "Your brother has always been a bastard. Now that he has caused a human life, he must pay for it himself. How dare you let me sacrifice the lives of our entire family in the Zhongyong Hou Mansion for him, a bastard?"

"Jiang Xiumei, do you have any brains? Do you know how fiercely the princes are fighting for the position of prince? No matter who our prince's palace belongs to, we will eventually become a fish in the pond... You Don’t even look at how many families have been destroyed in just a few days... How dare you, how dare you push our Marquis Mansion to go to hell?"

Mrs. Hou held her painful cheek. She lowered her head and did not dare to look at Dong Yong. "Hou... Mr. Hou, I don't want to either. However, Prince Rui has already obtained evidence that our Jiang family has committed crimes... It's not just Jiang Tao. Things, as well as those things that you suppressed before, Lord Marquis...Prince Rui is very capable, even if it has been hidden for many years, he dug three feet into the ground and dug it out."

Dong Yong's body couldn't help but tremble slightly. He didn't understand what Jiang Xiumei meant for a long time: "What happened that has been forgotten for many years? Can you explain it clearly to me?"

Jiang Xiumei timidly raised her head and glanced at Dong Yong cautiously. "My father once used the Hou Mansion to embezzle and take bribes... He also robbed people of their farmland... and killed more than ten people in a farmer's family. Those things are terrible. It was all the Marquis who came forward and settled everything one by one. I thought that no one else would ever know about these sesame seeds and rotten millet things. Who knew, Prince Rui... He would dig out all the things that happened back then... ..." "Prince Rui is so terrible, he just wants to drag us to hell...Prince Rui also said that the person he is targeting is not our Jiang family, but you, Lord Marquis. He said, who made you the king of the country? Where is the father-in-law of Young Master Yun of the General's Palace? He wants to win over all the in-laws of the General's Palace..." Xiao Xuanrui's purpose is self-evident. Dong Yong's face was extremely ugly. He staggered, stepped back a few times, and heavily Sitting on the chair behind her, Jiang Xiumei's eyes turned red and she cried with a choked voice: "Master Hou, that's not all. Prince Rui also found out the death of Sister Feng. He said, you If he still refuses to submit, he will secretly inform Dong Ke about the cause of Sister Feng’s death.”

"Once this matter is exposed, with Dong Ke's temper, she will definitely risk everything and die with us. Lord Marquis, we have been forced into a desperate situation. Even if you want to retreat, you can't."

She wiped the tears on her face, walked to Dong Yong on her knees, and held his robe tightly with her fingers. "Master Hou, in fact, it is not a bad thing for us to submit to Prince Rui. Now the four princes , the one who is most valued by the emperor is none other than Prince Rui. It is very likely that he will be established as the prince..." "If we fall under his command and wait until he becomes the prince and the new emperor in the future, then Our Hou Mansion has become the hero of Conglong. By then, the Hou Mansion will be on a higher level and even more prosperous than it is now."

"This is the best way out for us at the moment."
Chapter completed!