Except for Gao Junhui who looked indifferent, everyone else was shocked and thinking. After a long time, Li Zhiying said: "Wu Lang, what should we do now?"
Han Cheng suggested: "How about arresting all those with moral values immediately?"
Wu Chengsi pondered for a moment, shook his head and said, "No, we don't need to stop this now. We'll hold our ground for the next few days and wait until the day of the royal banquet. It's time for the prince to learn a lesson."
There is another point that he did not say clearly. If some things are prevented in advance, the person involved will not only not be grateful, but will also feel blamed. But if the person involved has experienced the suffering personally and learned the lesson, he will know the good and the bad and feel grateful.
Wu Chengsi didn't care whether the prince was grateful to him, but he was very dissatisfied with King Pei for inciting the prince to become hostile to him.
Only after the royal banquet can the two brothers become irreconcilable can the anger in his heart be relieved.
…
In the blink of an eye, it was the last day of the year. The front hall of the Taoist Temple was bustling with people who came to pray or fulfill their wishes, but the back yard was quite deserted, and not a single person was seen for a long time.
A man in brocade clothes walked through several corridors and came to a remote alchemy room. He pushed the door open and entered. The man wearing a ghost mask in the room immediately stood up and said with cupped hands: "Your Highness, you are here. The Ministry of Punishment
How’s the side?”
"Wu Chengsi has left the Ministry of Justice, but he has not made any moves. It seems that the three Piao people did not tell about that incident." The man in brocade clothes who spoke was clearly Langya King Li Chong.
The grim-faced man blamed himself: "It's all our fault for being incompetent and unable to find out the whereabouts of those three people."
King Langya waved his hand and said: "I can't blame you. With Wu Chengsi's connections and power in Chang'an City, your Fire Phoenix Society cannot compete with it. I know that many of the men you sent have been lost to the British government and the Xing Kingdom.
In the palace."
The ghost-faced man said anxiously: "My lord, as long as they are caught, they will definitely commit suicide immediately, and there will be no trace left."
King Langya said seriously: "I am not holding you accountable. In the evening, I will ask Wang Ying to send 100,000 yuan. In addition, the brothers who died in the assassination of Piao people last time should be buried properly."
The grim-faced man expressed gratitude and said, "Your Majesty, I don't understand, why don't we take this opportunity to bring down Wu Chengsi?"
"Things are not that easy. Not to mention the Queen, even Your Majesty does not believe that Wu Chengsi did it. The reason why he was detained in the Ministry of Punishment is just because of the regulations."
"Even if His Majesty doesn't believe it now, we can make him believe it!"
King Langya shook his head: "Are you really that easy to deceive as the emperor? It is more difficult to bring down Wu Chengsi than to deal with the prince. He is more vigilant than the prince. We have been planning this plan for more than three months. Do you think it is easy to trick him?
Can a little dirty water be enough to frame him?"
The grim-faced man sighed and said, "I'm just worried that those Piao people will tell Hall Master Li's secret to Wu Chengsi, and he may still ruin our plan."
Li Chong said with a gloomy expression: "Now that the plan has reached this point, we can only take a gamble. His Highness King Pei has already issued an order, and everything will proceed according to the original plan."
The man with a grimace said anxiously: "Your Highness, Your Highness King Pei is risking your life, and it will also involve the old prince. Please think twice. As long as you stop now, it's still too late."
King Langya said calmly: "Since my father asked me to help King Pei seize the crown prince, I have already put my life and death aside. Your Majesty is kind. Even if I fail, your Majesty will not implicate my father."
After saying that, he walked to the statue of Sanqing and bowed several times, and then said: "Belus has also been released from the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. Tomorrow, he will be sent away and hidden as planned, and then the spare immortality stones and pills will be transferred.
, you will also withdraw from Chang'an City later."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and left the alchemy room.
The grim-faced man walked to a futon and sat cross-legged to meditate. Whenever he thought about the three Piao people still alive, he always felt uneasy in his heart.
The royal banquet started at Xu o'clock in the evening. In the middle of You o'clock, the grim-faced man suddenly stood up from the futon. When he turned around, he saw a man in green clothes standing behind him like a ghost.
The grimace man was shocked and angry: "Gao Junhui...how did you find this place!"
"You don't need to know that much." Gao Junhui said indifferently.
…
Daming Palace, Linde Hall.
This time of year is the most lively night in the palace. Since a few days ago, the palace maids and eunuchs have been cleaning and dusting the Linde Hall, putting up lanterns and colorful decorations, and setting up chairs and tables.
During the day, the palace ladies were like bees, walking inside and outside the palace, placing tableware on each table, and then cakes and fresh fruits were also brought to the table.
The main hall is divided into three floors. The highest floor is the dragon chair where the emperor and empress sit. On the lower floor, there are two rows on the left and right, with five cases in each row, for a total of twenty cases.
On the next lower level, there are five rows on the left and right, with twenty tables in each row, for a total of two hundred seats.
The first ones to come to the hall were several businessmen, and Chen Tianzhu was among them. He was qualified to participate in the night banquet because of his connections with Wu Chengsi. Most of the other businessmen were similar to him, and each had their own connections.
Businessmen are good at calculating carefully, not to mention that they have spent such a huge price, so they naturally do not want to waste any second of the time they can spend in Linde Hall.
Not long after Chen Tianzhu and others entered the hall, officials, princes and nobles entered the hall one after another.
When Wu Chengsi arrived at the Linde Hall, it was less than a quarter of an hour before Xu Shi. The tables in the hall were almost full. Everyone was smiling and joking with each other, making it a lively scene.
After Wu Chengsi entered the palace, officials he knew or did not know came up to say hello, and he returned the greetings with a smile one by one.
His position was on the second floor of the main hall. When he went up the steps, Wu Chengsi looked towards the second floor and saw that all the people sitting behind the ten tables on the left were the most important figures in the royal family.
Wu Chengsi knew Prince Li Hong, King Pei Li Xian, King Li Xian of England, King Li Dan of Yin, and Princess Taiping Li Lingyue.
The other five people were known through the memory of the original owner, namely King Li Yuanjia of Han, King Li Lingkui of Lu, King Li Yuangui of Huo, King Li Yuanli of Zheng, and King Li Shen of Ji.
As for the ten cases on the right, they are more complicated. There are descendants of the clan, such as Langya King Li Chong, Fanyang King Li Ai, and Cao King Li Ming.
There were also important ministers in the court, such as Sikong Li Ji, Situ Su Dingfang and Zhongshu Ling Liu Rengui.
There are also generals in the army, such as Zuoweiwei General Xue Rengui, Zuowei General Qi Yao Heli, Zuojinwuwei General Zhang Qianxu, etc.
Wu Chengsi's position was between Li Chong and King Cao Li Ming. He first greeted Li Ji, Su Dingfang and several other acquaintances before sitting down.
As soon as he sat down, he noticed that Li Chong next to him was quietly sizing him up. The prince opposite, King Pei and Princess Taiping also looked over.
Wu Chengsi only nodded to Princess Taiping and ignored the looks of others.
Looking down, Wu Chengsi quickly found his target, and saw Li Yunxian sitting behind the case, cross-legged, eyes closed, looking like a master.
Not long after, Emperor Li Zhi and Empress Wu Mei walked in from the side door with the sound of a promise. Everyone stood up and saluted the emperor and empress.
According to tradition, before the banquet, the descendants and nephews should present gifts to the emperor and empress.
The prince started first. He gave Li Zhi a Taoist scripture copied by himself. After Li Zhi received it, Long Yan was delighted and said with a smile: "The prince is thoughtful. I like it very much."
King Pei then came out of the queue, cupped his hands and said: "My son heard that my father has not been sleeping well recently, so he presented ten boxes of spices from the Western Regions. This fragrance is called geranium, and it has an excellent effect on promoting sleep."
Li Zhi sighed: "Do you know the reason why I have insomnia?"
King Pei bowed his head and said nothing.
Li Zhi shook his head and said: "Well, it's rare for you to be filial. Dongfu, take it to my bedroom and I'll try it tonight."
Then several princes and Princess Taiping also presented gifts. Regardless of whether the gifts were good or bad, Li Zhi accepted them with a smile.
Especially after receiving the four characters "Fu Shou An Kang" from Princess Taiping's show, she laughed heartily and rewarded her with several jade ornaments.
Wu Chengsi was secretly amused. Princess Taiping didn't know how to embroider at all. Who could have created this picture?
Soon after, it was Wu Chengsi's turn to give a gift. He did not prepare a gift at all, because he knew that there was no need to give a gift himself.
Not long after, it was Langya King Li Chong's turn to present the gift. He stood up and came out of the procession, cupped his hands and said: "The stone I present to your majesty is a stone called Shengxian Stone."
While he was talking, several Qianniu Guards came in carrying a large stone from outside the door. It was the Immortality Stone displayed by Wang Shi in the East Market.
Li Zhi was slightly startled: "The Immortal Stone? I seem to have heard Taoist Li mention this stone. Could it be that this stone can really help people achieve immortality?"
When he asked the last sentence, he looked down at Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian opened his eyes and said calmly: "Your Majesty, the path to immortality is vast, and it all depends on the word fate. Your Majesty heard the poor Taoist mention the Immortality Stone, and now someone is offering you the Immortality Stone. This is fate."
Li Zhi smiled and said: "Does the Taoist Master want to say that I also have immortality in me?"
Li Yunxian shook his head and said: "Your Majesty is the Nine-Fifth Supreme Being and is in harmony with the way of heaven. Although your Majesty has the destiny to be immortal, he cannot attain the level of immortality."