Chapter 160: Sesame becomes a melon

At the same time when the lantern festival was in full swing, a carriage stopped in front of Li Linfu's mansion, and two Li Linfu's sons ran down the steps, and respectfully helped a middle-aged man out of the carriage, "Wang Zhongcheng, my father has been waiting for you for a long time."

The middle-aged man was the Chief Censor Wang Gong. He smiled and said, "I'm sorry to bother you on the Lantern Festival."

"Wang Zhongcheng is too polite. My father said he should apologize to Wang Zhongcheng so that Wang Zhongcheng cannot rest."

After a few greetings, Li Linfu's two sons took Wang Gong into the inner house, in Li Linfu's tightly guarded island castle.

This year, Li Linfu did not go to the Lantern Festival to inspect the same as in previous years. An impeachment memorial transferred by Wang Gong left him at home. At this moment, this thin memorial was on his desk. The content was very simple. Yizhou Prime Minister Shi Cui Yuan impeached Yizhou Prefect Wei Huan as a nepotist and promoted his nephew Wei Ming from an ordinary minor official to a military officer. Frankly speaking, this kind of promotion is not a problem. It is normal for a dignified prefect to promote a low-level official. Even his own relatives are not a big problem. Isn’t it the reason why famous families can control the local political situation of the Tang Dynasty? The Cui family is not much better. Cui Qiao’s nephew Cui Ping quickly promoted his cousin Cui Yu to join the Sizhou Register, so Wei Huan’s approach is really not a big deal.

But Li Linfu attached great importance to this memorial because it came too timely. Just as he was trying his best to think about how to provoke Yang Zhao's struggle with the prince, this memorial came. Li Linfu saw through the inside story behind this memorial at a glance. Cui Yuan and Yang Zhao joined forces to drive away Wei Huan. In other words, the Cui family had already defected to the Yang party. What about Wei Huan? Li Linfu immediately thought of Wei Jian. The representative figure of the Wei family who was defeated by him back then, the backbone of the princely party. After Wei Jian was demoted, the Wei family was purged, and the local forces of the Wei family were basically dismissed. What about now? With the rise of Wei Huan, Wei Tao, and Wei Jiansu's three Weiss, whether the Wei family still has the possibility of re-joining the princely party. The answer is possible. The key is how Li Linfu manipulates him.

"My father, Wang Zhongcheng has arrived."

The report at the door interrupted Li Linfu's thoughts. He smiled and said, "Please come in!"

Wang Gong is Li Linfu's first confidant, and he is also his most capable thug. In the past one or two years, he has won a lot of titles from the Chief Censor, and even Li Qing'an has the title of Chief Censor. However, Wang Gong is the only one who is truly full-time and has the real power of the Censorate. This impeachment memorial by Cui Yuan was found by Wang Gong from nearly a hundred memorials. He first discovered the trick hidden in this memorial.

"Are you in the prime minister in a humble position!"

"Haha! I was worried that Wang Zhongcheng would come to talk about things at night in the Shangyuan Lantern Festival. I was really sorry." Li Linfu smiled gently.

"What the Prime Minister must talk about is a major event. How can I not come?"

Li Linfu nodded, "Zhongcheng said it well. I read the memorial you transferred to me yesterday. I think this is indeed a big deal."

After receiving the recognition of Li Linfu, Wang Gong was excited and hurriedly said, "I think so too. Wei Huan has been the prefect of Yizhou for more than a year. Cui Yuan and him have never had anything to do. Why did Yang Zhao just become the governor of Jiannan when things happened? Moreover, Cui Wei's two families have been in a century and have a marriage. I wrote a letter to impeach this small matter, which is a bit of a big deal."

"Do you understand if they are not trivial, nor are they to us?"

Seeing that Wang Gong didn't understand, Li Linfu simply said, "This will be the fuse for the East Palace to make a feud with the Yang family."

Wang Gong then suddenly realized that he secretly called the prime minister's cleverness. He thought for a while and said, "It's just that Wei Tao is the father-in-law of King Di. Bei Zhi was worried that it would evolve into a battle between Yang Zhao and King Di."

"It is indeed possible, but the possibility is not great. As long as we push the Wei family to the East Palace a little, it will naturally be a battle between Yang Zhao and the East Palace."

"Does the Prime Minister mean to let the humble official do this?"

"No! How could it be you?" Li Linfu waved his hand and smiled, "I have arranged this person long ago. Have you forgotten? Yangzhou salt case."

"Li Qing'an!" Wang Gong slapped his forehead. He was really impressed by Li Linfu's far-sightedness. Li Linfu arranged Li Qing'an into the East Palace, but it turned out that it was for this matter.

"The prime minister is so smart!"

Li Linfu smiled faintly and said, "I know he is no longer convinced by me, but I am not worried. As long as I am still the right prime minister for one day or the governor of Beiting for one day, he, Li Qing'an, will have to cooperate with me."

"Will the Prime Minister invite him?"

Li Linfu shook his head, "No need to say anything, he naturally understands in his heart and knows what to do."

Li Linfu smiled and handed the impeachment memorial to Wang Gong, "I heard that Wei Ming was already on the way to Beijing. This matter is very urgent. Your Censorate will directly present this memorial to the emperor. In addition, another copy will be added to the crown prince."

Li Linfu walked a few steps behind his back and said, "Record another copy for Li Qing'an, and I'll give it tonight."

The gate of Shangyuan Festival was not closed. Li Qing'an did not send the Mingyue Mingzhu sisters back to Dugu Mansion until the second update. The shameful face when saying goodbye, the gentleness of bowing his head, the affectionate glance of autumn water, the tenderness is like water, and the beauty is endless, making Li Qing'an look forward to the day of goodbye.

Although the second update has passed, there are still crowds in Chang'an City. The tireless people in Chang'an sing and dance, and welcome the annual Tang Dynasty Carnival with unprecedented enthusiasm.

Li Qing'an and a dozen personal soldiers walked slowly on Chunming Street. The personal soldiers were still looking around, enjoying the lanterns on Chunming Street with great interest, but Li Qing'an was immersed in the tenderness and sweetness of the bright moon.

Suddenly, a melodious sound of piano came from a distance. It was a beautiful girl playing the piano lantern, surrounded by hundreds of lantern viewers. Looking through the gaps of the crowd, she saw a beautiful young lady of fourteen or fifteen sitting under the lamp playing the piano. Her white skirt was like snow and her hair was fluttering. Li Qing'an suddenly thought of Wuyi, the lonely descendant of the Jiang family, the girl who once made him dream of it.

Li Qing'an sighed softly, and he remembered Li Linfu's words that night: "As long as you complete the second step for me, I will give you Jiang Wuyi, and the position of Anxi Jiedu is also yours. I will make you the youngest Jiedushi in the Tang Dynasty."

When did Jiang Wuyi become the bait for Li Lin's mansion and the reward for him, Li Qing'an, who worked hard for Li Linfu. What if he didn't want to become Li Linfu's lackey? Is Jiang Wuyi always unlucky with him?

This is a problem that Li Qingan has always been unwilling to think about or face. Love may be expensive, but Li Qingan will never lose his life for a woman.

After walking into Yishanfang, he saw Gao Lishi's huge dark mansion from afar. After walking for a while, Li Qingan came to the steps of Gao Mansion and walked forward. He saw a black shadow squatting under a tree at a glance. The black shadow immediately stood up and strode over, "General Li, I have been waiting for you for a long time!"

"Is there anything you have to do?" Li Qingan asked with a smile.

Seeing that his hand reached into his arms, the soldiers surrounded him together, pressed the handle of the knife, and stared at the person with vigilance.

Unexpectedly, the visitor took out a thin booklet, and handed it on both hands, "This is what my master transferred to the master."

When Li Qingan saw the five words "Wang Zhongcheng Jing Shang" written in the lower right corner, he smiled and said, "But the Censor Wang Zhongcheng?"

“That’s right!”

Li Qingan took the booklet and asked, "Do he have anything else?"

"Report to the general, there is no more."

The person who came took a bow, turned around and ran towards the gate, gradually disappeared into the darkness.

Li Qingan flipped through the booklet and it turned out to be a copy of the impeachment memorial. Without even looking at it, he put the memorial into his arms and smiled at the personal soldiers: "Thank you all for your hard work today, let's go and rest!"

Just as dawn the next day, Li Qingan was awakened by a knock on the door. The personal soldiers came from the door, "General, Mr. Yan is ready and is waiting for the general."

Last night, he instructed his men that as long as Yan Zhuang is safe today, he would wake him up immediately. He turned over and sat down, washed up briefly, and walked into Yan Zhuang's room.

After a day and night of careful care, Yan Zhuang has basically returned to normal. Although he cannot move, he can already lean against the soft mattress and drink porridge by himself.

Li Qing'an walked into the room, looked at him and smiled, "It seems that Mr. Yan recovers faster than I thought!"

Yan Zhuang quickly put down the bowl and bowed, "It was the envoy's careful care that brought Yan Zhuang back from the gate of hell. He did not express his gratitude, and Yan Zhuang would remember it in his heart."

Li Qing'an smiled and waved his hands to the people next to him. Several guards and female guards who took care of Yan Zhuang retreated. Li Qing'an sat down in front of his couch, pondered for a while and said, "Yesterday Mr. Yan told me that An Lushan killed Dong Yanguang to plot against Abus's cavalry. How likely is the sir?"

Yan Zhuang smiled coldly and said, "In fact, I planned the cavalry of Abus. I took three steps. The first step was to kill Dong Yanguang and let Abus owe favors. The third step was to attack the Khitan and ask the court to order the Shuofang cavalry to join the war. At that time, Abus owe favors, so he naturally had to take action himself. As long as he did some tricks with the logistics supplier, Abus would be defeated when attacking the Khitan. Finally, he would lose his life and conquered him. Then he would gather the remaining troops and the Turkic cavalry would be in the hands of An Lushan."

Li Qingan was shocked. If this was the case, Abus's cavalry would be really hard to protect, but when he saw Yan Zhuang sneering, he knew that he was still not finished, he smiled and said, "Sir, please continue talking!"

"Actually, I didn't have time to tell him the third step. After Abus left, I planned to tell him all the plans. Unfortunately, the Yang family came at this time, so I didn't have the opportunity to tell the third step strategy. He only knew the second step. This second step was actually my fake shot. The purpose was to test the court's view of the Abus tribe, which was to suggest that the Turkic Abus tribe move to Youzhou. I knew the court would definitely not agree, but the key was that I wanted to see the court's attention to the Abus tribe, test the bottom line of the court, and then make effective deployment of the third step. Unfortunately! An Lushan couldn't hear my third step plan."

Li Qingan nodded slightly. As expected, he was well-known and an expert in conspiracy planning. An Lushan abandoned this talent in order not to offend the Yang family. It was really stupid. This was God blessed him.

At that moment, he took out the memorial from Wang Gong to himself yesterday and handed it to Yan Zhuang and said, "Today, I want to discuss something with Mr. Yan. This was what Wang Gong sent to me overnight last night."

Yan Zhuang took the memorial and looked at it. It was the memorial of Yi Prefect Shi Cui Yuan impeaching Yizhou Prefect Wei Huan. He was also stunned for a moment and said to himself: "Didn't the Cui Wei family have been in contact for generations? How could they break up for this little thing? Could it be that it is related to Yang Zhao?"

When Li Qingan heard the essence of his assassination, he couldn't help but exclaim in secret, and said with a smile: "Mr. I guessed it with a word. This is indeed related to Yang Zhao, not only to Yang Zhao, but also to the prince and Li Linfu. It was a bet that Li Linfu had put his life on his bet.

He simply told Li Linfu's strategy of fighting against crane clams. Yan Zhuang stared at Li Qing'an blankly. He was not impressed by Li Linfu's stubbornness, and Li Qing'an actually told him such a major matter.

After a while, he asked in a low voice: "I really trust Yan Zhuang?"

Li Qingan nodded slightly and smiled, "I, Li Qingan, have always hired people without doubt, and I don't need to doubt people. Since I have decided to accept you, then from now on, you will be my aide. I will naturally discuss these important matters with you."

Yan Zhuang was silent. What he felt was not only Li Qing'an's trust in him, but also a kind of respect for him and a kind of courage to be full of miles. He couldn't help but think of An Lushan's slap. Under that slap, he was a dog, but under Li Qing'an's tent, he was alone. He restrained his inner touch and said slowly: "Eunuch, my opinion is to cooperate with Li Linfu."

Li Qingan sighed softly and said, "I have thought about it too, but I am worried that it is easy to get in and out. Once I get on his pirate ship, it will be difficult to get off again."

Yan Zhuang smiled and said, "If the envoy is a prime minister, he has this concern, but the envoy is a princeling. On the contrary, as long as the envoy is a clever method, the crown prince will pay more attention to you. As long as the envoy is careful not to have any handles fall into Li Linfu's hands, then he can't do anything to you. So I said it is cooperation, not service. The difference between the two words, but the meaning is thousands of miles apart. Cooperation means that the envoy must also get benefits. Both sides will get what they need in this game."

"Then the sir said, what benefits can I do in this game?"

"Li Linfu is a prime minister. He almost controls all the resources of the Tang Dynasty. What do you think he wants most after he is in Beiting? Food or military weapons?"

Li Qingan touched his chin and smiled. He had already thought of what he needed the most, neither food nor military weapon.

At noon, a major event came from Xingqing Palace. The Censorate officially wrote a letter to Li Longji. The Censorate will strictly investigate the case of Wei Huan, the prefect of Yizhou, who was the only person to hire a nepotism. Li Longji immediately approved the reply to the three-party trial: "After investigation, we will never tolerate it!"

The Censorate immediately transferred the document and notified the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and important officials of the third rank or above who were resting at home. This matter was like wings and instantly spread throughout Chang'an City.

In the afternoon of the same day, a small three-chamber was formed by Han Yuan, the Censorate of the Dali Temple, and Chen Yuzhi, the doctor of the Ministry of Justice, and began to formally investigate the case. The three of them reviewed the records of Wei Ming's inspection and retention in the Ministry of Personnel, and went to the Wei Mansion in person to talk to Wei Huan.

At this time, the Wei family received news that Cui Qiao, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, visited Yang Zhao at noon. Yang Zhao's family opened the door to welcome Cui Qiao's arrival, which meant that Cui Yang had already publicly formed an alliance.

In the secret room of the Cui Mansion, the three giants of the Wei family, Wei Huan, Wei Tao and Wei saw that Su were urgently negotiating countermeasures. Wei Huan looked solemn and paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. He never expected that he was just a small official from the seventh rank, who was fired so much, and even alarmed the emperor to set up a three-court trial. This was obviously targeting the Wei family. Maybe it would evolve into the second "Wei Jian case".

"Brother, is King Di still unwilling to come forward?"

Wei Tao sighed and said, "I just looked for him again. His attitude was the same as at noon. He said he would do his best, but I could see that he didn't want to ask about this."

Wei Huan's brows frowned, and even King Di saw the seriousness of this matter and was unwilling to ask about it. Could it be that Wei Huan's career really ended?

It is not a pity that Wei Huan was dismissed, but the Wei family's just-initiated revival will be hit hard and will never recover.

"If it really doesn't work, I will voluntarily resign from the position of prefect. Didn't they just want to do this?"

"No!" Wei Jiansu immediately opposed: "If you resign before the case is filed, it may be possible, but now the court has filed a case. Resigning now means you have accused of the crime. Will they let the Wei family go? Now it is already in a difficult situation, so you can only try it."

Wei Jiansu thought about it and said, "In fact, it may not be a nepotism. Wei Ming's father Wei Yu once served as a censor. According to the family system, he can serve as a seventh rank. The key is how good he is before the promotion? Do he have any political achievements?"

Wei Huan reminded Wei Huan in one sentence. He focused for a moment: "Wei Ming was the chief clerk of Dongyang County before he was promoted. He was the first to be a senior in the three years of the examination. He had no merits. However, this boy is lustful and often stayed in brothels overnight without returning. There are also records in the examination. I am very worried that the judge would catch him."

Wei Tao next to him shook his head and said, "It's not that political achievements are good or not. Now it's obviously Cui Yang taking the opportunity to attack. No matter how good they are, they will be useless. Now the key is to find a backstage and have a backstage that can confront the Yang family, so that it is possible to protect it."

All three Wei were silent. They thought of Prince Li Heng almost at the same time. However, after the Wei Jian case, they took the initiative to leave the Eastern Palace. Now they go after the accident. Can the prince accept it?
Chapter completed!