The moon is bright and clear, shining down on the earth.
Wu Chengsi, Di Renjie and Feng Wu rode together to Zhang Jianzhi's residence.
It's almost curfew time, and there are few pedestrians on the streets.
Wu Chengsi saw Di Renjie stopping at an inn and frowned: "Why does he live here?"
Di Renjie replied: "After Brother Zhang came out of prison, he handed over all the things rewarded by King Pei to the Ministry of Punishment. He used to live in King Pei's Mansion, but now that King Pei's Mansion has been sealed, he has no relatives in Chang'an City, so he lives here temporarily.
."
Wu Chengsi was silent for a while, then nodded and said, "Let's go in."
The three of them came to the second floor, and Di Renjie came outside a room and knocked on the door.
The door opened after a while. After seeing Di Renjie, Zhang Jianzhi was about to speak when he suddenly saw Wu Chengsi standing behind him with a smile. He was shocked.
"His Royal Highness King Zhou, why are you here?"
"Aren't you welcome?" Wu Chengsi smiled.
Zhang Jianzhi hurriedly stepped aside and said, "Please come in quickly."
After Wu Chengsi went in, he found wine bottles and glasses on the table, as well as a plate of dried tofu as an appetizer.
He must have been drinking alone just now.
Wu Chengsi turned around and said to the female bodyguard: "Feng Wu, go and ask the waiter to serve a few bottles of wine and a few plates of side dishes to go with the wine. Today I want to have a good drink with Zhang Jun and Di Shaoqing."
Feng Wu nodded and went out.
Zhang Jianzhi looked at Di Renjie. Wu Chengsi suddenly came over and his attitude was so cordial. It must have something to do with him.
Di Renjie did not explain, smiled slightly, and sat down next to Wu Chengsi.
Wu Chengsi grabbed a piece of dried tofu and ate it, licked his fingers and said, "Well, it tastes okay."
Zhang Jianzhi sat down on the other side of Wu Chengsi, poured him a glass of wine and handed it to him, saying with a wry smile: "Your Highness, King Zhou, why are you here suddenly?"
Wu Chengsi raised his glass and said, "After I left the study just now, I thought about your words carefully, and then I understood your painstaking efforts. I am not generous enough, so I use this glass of wine to apologize to you and hope that Mr. Zhang will forgive me.
"
Zhang Jianzhi hurriedly raised his glass and said: "Your Highness is serious. I don't know how to adapt and lack argumentative skills. I could have used better methods to persuade you, but I insist on contradicting you."
The two looked at each other for a long time, both smiled and drank a drink.
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "After I figured it out, I wanted to come find you at that time. I happened to meet Di Shaoqing coming over and said that he wanted to report something to me."
Zhang Jianzhi glanced at Di Renjie and knew that he must have told Wu Chengsi about the Wei, Xue, and Xiao families.
At this moment, Feng Wu came back, and the waiter from the shop came with her.
The waiter was holding a tray with a plate of mutton, a sauced duck and a steamed crucian carp on it, all of which were Feng Wu's favorite dishes.
When Feng Wu was in the palace, Wu Chengsi asked her to eat at the same table, so he was not polite and sat down opposite Wu Chengsi, picked up his chopsticks and put the fish head into the bowl.
Wu Chengsi and the three of them drank and talked freely, talking about everything from north to south.
Zhang Jianzhi is well-informed and can express his opinions on any topic. Although Di Renjie doesn't speak much, he can hit the point every time he speaks.
Wu Chengsi listened more and spoke less.
After three rounds of drinking, the conversation among the three gradually returned to the court.
Both Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie had the ambition to help the world and leave their names in history.
Di Renjie was inclined to improve the legal system and combat corruption. Through constant self-examination, he made the government clear and orderly, and the world harmonious.
Zhang Jianzhi believed that internally we should further promote the imperial examination, select talented people to govern the country, and develop commerce to make the people worry-free about food and clothing.
Externally, we should attack the Tibetans and Turks and stabilize the Silk Road.
However, he did not advocate the direct use of troops, but preferred to use the strategy of alienation to weaken the Tibetans and Turks from within.
After Wu Chengsi heard this, he secretly had some thoughts about what official position to give to Zhang Jianzhi.
When the three of them were drinking, Feng Wu didn't drink at all, didn't say anything, and ate her food sullenly. In the end, most of the food that went with the wine fell into her belly.
…
The first month of the month is full and the silver light leaks to the ground.
In the Duke's Mansion of the Song Dynasty, Xiao Kai stood in the stone pavilion, looking at the dim stars reflected by the bright moon, with mixed feelings in his heart.
In his view, since Emperor Qin, the royal family of every dynasty is like the moon in the sky, and the aristocratic families are like the stars beside the moon.
The moon needs the protection of the stars, and the stars need the guidance of the moon.
The stars and the moon illuminate the sky and the earth together. Sometimes, the stars and the moon can even replace each other.
During the Northern Dynasties, the Xiao family was the moon, the Li family, and the Yang family were the stars guarding the moon.
In the Sui Dynasty, the Yang family became the moon, the Xiao family became relatives, and like the Li family, became the guardian stars.
After Li Yuan entered Chang'an, the Yang family perished. Xiao Kai's father, Xiao Yu, surrendered with the county and was named Duke of Song. He once again became the guardian star of the moon of Li Tang.
However, as time went by, Li Tang's moon became brighter and brighter, causing the surrounding stars to gradually dim and even threaten to disappear.
This broke the tradition of aristocratic families protecting the royal family for many years.
As the current head of the Xiao family, Xiao Kai was full of worries about this trend and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Just as he sighed, a cold and sharp voice came from behind.
"Brother Xiao, there is no use sighing."
Xiao Kai didn't look back and said calmly: "You're here."
The man slowly walked over, and the moonlight shone on his face. He was clearly the head of the Wei family, Duke Xu Guo, Wei Xuanzhen.
Duke Xu Guogong said with a livid face, "Where is the Marquis of Hedong? He hasn't come yet?"
Seeing his expression, Song Guogong frowned and said, "Brother Wei, did something happen to your family?"
Xu Guogong gritted his teeth and said: "Brother Xiao, I won't hide it from you. Ever since the three of us signed that agreement, I haven't had a sound sleep at night."
Song Guogong smiled and said: "Why, are you afraid that our two families will be harmed by you?"
Xu Guogong glared and said: "Brother Xiao, with the relationship between our two families, how can I be afraid of being implicated by you? I can't worry about the Xue family, so..."
Song Guogong said leisurely: "So you sent your eldest son-in-law Yan Yaosheng to deliberately approach Princess Chengyang in order to steal the Xue family's agreement, right?"
Xu Guogong was surprised and said: "You know?"
Song Guogong said calmly: "I'm not deaf or blinded yet."
Xu Guogong said solemnly: "Then you should also know that Yaosheng is dead. I suspect that it was the Xue family who did it!"
"Xu Guogong, you can fart randomly, but you can't talk nonsense. You said that our Xue family killed Yan Yaosheng, do you have evidence?"
As a rough voice sounded, a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes walked behind the two people.
This person is the current head of the Xue family, Marquis Xue Hui of Hedong County.
He is the younger brother of Xue Guan, the deceased husband of Princess Chengyang.
Although the two brothers were born from the same mother, one was extremely handsome and the other was extremely ugly, which caused a lot of jokes in Chang'an City back then.
Xu Guogong sneered and said: "You still don't admit it? You sent a few people to sneak into my house and planned to steal the agreement during my birthday party. However, Yaosheng caught him and killed him, is that right?"
The Marquis of Hedong glared and said: "Master Wei, I admit that I did originally plan to send people to seize your family's agreement, but that was also because you sent Yan Yaosheng to steal our family's agreement first!"
Xu Guogong said angrily: "Okay, you finally admitted it! Brother Xiao, you heard it too, right?"
Hedong Hou said angrily: "I admit it, yes, I did plan to have someone take action on your birthday party, but because of some changes, I gave up that plan."
"What happened?" Song Guogong asked.
Marquis Hedong glanced at the two of them and said coldly: "Originally, I didn't want to tell you this, for fear of scaring you two. But now that the matter has come to this, it seems that I can't do it without telling you."
"What's going on?" Xu Guogong asked impatiently.
Hedong Hou's face sank and he said: "Not long ago, one of my businessmen was targeted by a bad person."
The expressions of Xu Guogong and Song Guogong changed.
Xu Guogong lost his voice and said: "Is it possible that the emperor already knows about our affairs?"
The Marquis of Hedong snorted and said, "I knew you would be frightened like this. Don't worry too much. My niece tested the emperor and he didn't notice the situation in the treasury."
The niece he was talking about was Mrs. Xue, who had recently been promoted to a concubine.
"Then why would a bad person target your businessmen?" Xu Guogong asked hurriedly.
The Marquis of Hedong said: "Humph, in order to promote the Liaodong War, I sent a businessman to bribe the King of Yue and the King of Han. You also know it, right?"
"What does this have to do with bad people?" Xu Guogong asked.
The Marquis of Hedong said: "Haven't the kings of Yue, Pei and Han all fallen recently? I thought the bad guys were investigating them and followed the lead."
Xu Guogong said angrily: "Why didn't you tell me about such an important thing earlier?"
Hedong Hou said coldly: "This is my own business. There is no need to tell you all."
Xu Guogong said angrily: "We are all sitting in the same boat now. If bad people find out about the treasury from your people, everyone will be screwed!"
Song Guogong said calmly: "Brother Wei, please be patient." Then he said to the Marquis of Hedong: "Master Xue Marquis, does this matter have anything to do with the accident you mentioned?"
The Marquis of Hedong was silent for a long time and said in a rough voice: "When I was dealing with that subordinate, I accidentally made some mistakes and offended King Wu Chengsi of Zhou. One of my subordinates was captured by him."
Song Guogong shook his head and said: "You are not careful in your work. King Zhou is such a powerful person. King Pei was defeated by him. How dare you offend him?"
Hedong Hou snorted and continued:
"My subordinate was originally going to the Wei Mansion to implement the plan to steal the agreement. He had a jade plaque on his body, which contained my order for him to meet at the Wei Mansion."
Xu Guogong's eyes widened instantly and he roared:
"King Zhou must have thought that your men were mine after seeing him. I asked him why he suddenly came to my mansion after the birthday banquet. It turns out it was all your fault!" His fists were clenched and his eyes were blood red.
Marquis Hedong said calmly: "You are wrong, Wu Chengsi did not go after the birthday banquet."
Xu Guogong was stunned and said: "What do you mean by this?"
The Marquis of Hedong glanced at him sideways and said coldly: "He has been there for the entire birthday party, but you are just blind."
Xu Guogong said angrily: "It's impossible. If he comes, how could I not know about it?"
Marquis Hedong said with a smile: "Didn't you notice that there is a guard beside Princess Taiping who looks very much like him?"
Xu Guogong was stunned. Although he noticed that there was a guard behind Princess Taiping, but none of the guests came with a guard, so how could he pay more attention?
"How do you know he is Wu Chengsi?" Song Guogong asked.
"Of course my princess sister-in-law told me. After my man fell into Wu Chengsi's hands, I guessed that he might go to your birthday party, so I asked my sister-in-law to go too."
"She saw that there was something wrong with the guards around Princess Taiping, so she deliberately took him into an empty room and tested him."
"Sure enough, Princess Taiping rushed over impatiently. If she were an ordinary guard, would Princess Taiping have such a big reaction?"
Xu Guogong's face was a little bitter. On the day of the birthday banquet, so many things happened secretly, but he didn't know anything about it. It became a joke.
Song Guogong said calmly: "Because of Wu Chengsi, that's why you gave up the action?"
Hedong Hou said: "Yes, I don't want to take risks. If the agreement falls into his hands, the consequences will be disastrous."
Xu Guogong sneered: "Really? Let me ask you, are those temporary servants your people?"
Hedong Hou said calmly: "Not bad."
Xu Guogong said angrily: "Wu Chengsi has already found out that the person who killed Yao Sheng was one of the temporary servants. What else do you have to say?"
Hedong Hou frowned and said, "Is this impossible?"
Xu Guogong sneered: "Don't you know Wu Chengsi's ability in investigating crimes?" He immediately told the story about Wu Chengsi using clothes to lure the murderer.
Hedong Hou was stunned and said: "I understand, no wonder he ran away. It turned out that he was the one who killed Yan Yaosheng!"
Song Guogong raised his eyebrows and said, "Who is it?"
The Marquis of Hedong said with a gloomy face: "This man's name is Gu Feng. He is a confidant I have trained for many years. He suddenly disappeared that day. I sent people to search everywhere, but he could not be found."
Xu Guogong sneered and said: "You will ignore everything. Since he is your confidant, how can you kill Yaosheng and suddenly disappear? You don't believe it!"
The Marquis of Hedong said coldly: "Believe it or not, that's the way it is."
His sister-in-law is a princess, and his daughter has become a virtuous concubine. She is no longer as afraid of the Wei family as before.
Xu Guogong gritted his teeth in hatred.
Song Guogong said in a deep voice: "Brother Wei, what Mr. Xue Hou said should be true. Yaosheng died next to the secret vault, which led to the discovery of the secret vault in your house. This matter will not do him any good."
Marquis Hedong hummed: "Master Xiao is still very knowledgeable. To be honest, after Master Xu's secret treasury was exposed, I have been keeping an eye on Wu Chengsi, suspecting that he has become suspicious of us."
Song Guogong's eyes narrowed and he said: "What's the basis?"
Hedong Hou turned to Wei Xuanzhen and said coldly: "My Mr. Wei, haven't you noticed that Princess Taiping is secretly investigating your property?"
Xu Guogong hummed: "Of course I know that Princess Taiping has secretly supported several businesses and amassed money. It's not surprising if we investigate her colleagues."
Hedong Hou said angrily: "Princess Taiping and those businessmen are just a simple cooperative relationship. She acts as a backer for those businessmen, and those businessmen give her half of the profits. How can she go to war for them?"
Song Guogong said with a stern face: "I'm afraid that after Wu Chengsi discovered Brother Wei's secret treasury, he suspected that the money in it had an improper origin, so he asked Princess Taiping to investigate."
Xu Guogong was shocked and angry. He glared at Hedong Hou and said, "It's all your fault!"
Hedong Hou sneered and said: "I have already said that I did not send anyone to kill Yan Yaosheng."
"But Gu Feng was originally one of yours. If he hadn't killed Yao Sheng next to the secret treasury, how would Wu Chengsi have discovered the secret treasury?"
Song Guogong's eyes flickered, and he said in a serious voice: "I'm afraid that Gu Feng did it on purpose, just to let Wu Chengsi discover the secret treasury and trace the origin of the money in the secret treasury."
The muscles on Hedong Hou's face twitched, and after a while, he said coldly: "I will send people to catch Gu Feng as soon as possible. You two don't have to worry. The most urgent thing right now is Wu Chengsi's matter."
Xu Guogong hummed: "Just because Wu Chengsi asked Princess Taiping to investigate my property does not mean that he has suspected us."
The Marquis of Hedong said coldly: "Then what if he sends Di Renjie to investigate the weapons supervisor?"
"Is there still such a thing?" Song Guogong frowned.
Xu Guogong hummed: "The weapons inspector has nothing to do with us, so what if he investigated?"
Hedong Hou Tieqing said with a face: "The matter is not that simple. He has been asking people from Dali Temple to investigate my businessman. Even if he hasn't found anything yet, if he keeps investigating, sooner or later he will find our secret
!”
Xu Guogong said angrily: "Didn't you deal with the businessman under you?"
Hedong Hou said with a gloomy face: "He is very alert. He guessed in advance that I would kill him and hid."
Song Guogong solemnly said: "What is his name? We will help you search for him."
As if he was afraid of Hedong Hou's objection, he continued: "This is no longer your business alone. The merchant must know a lot about it. If it falls into the hands of Wu Chengsi, our situation will not be good."
Hedong Hou smiled slightly and said: "I actually found him very early."
Xu Guogong said: "Then why haven't you dealt with him yet?"
Marquis Hedong's eyes flashed and he said: "Because he is working on a very interesting plan. As long as he makes good use of his plan, he can eliminate the threat of Wu Chengsi in one fell swoop."
Song Guogong said: "What is the plan?"
The Marquis of Hedong came closer to the two of them, lowered his voice, and told them the plan.
Xu Guogong said angrily: "If he really succeeds, wouldn't we all be doomed? Why don't you kill him quickly?"
Hedong Hou smiled and said: "Don't worry, I will not let his plan succeed. I will just use his plan to accomplish a big thing."
"What big thing?" Song Guogong asked.
Marquis Hedong's eyes flashed with light as he said word by word: "Assassinate Queen Wu."
Seeing that both of their faces were pale with fright, Hedong Hou laughed and said: "As long as Wu Mei dies, Wu Chengsi will be useless. What do you have to be afraid of?"
Xu Guogong smiled coldly and said: "I'm afraid you are doing this just so that your daughter can ascend to the position of queen."
Hedong Hou said calmly: "Yes, I do have this purpose. After knocking Wu Mei down, she can become the queen. But you also said just now that our three families are in the same boat. My daughter ascending to the position of queen will also be of benefit to you."
Good thing."
Xu Guogong laughed and remained silent.
The Marquis of Hedong added: "As long as the emperor dies and the prince is weak and incompetent, it is impossible to defeat the Wu family's aunt and nephew, and the government will definitely be controlled by them."
Xu Guogong hummed: "So what, whoever controls the government is not the same."
The Marquis of Hedong said coldly: "Of course it's different. Empress Wu has always advocated expanding the imperial examination. This threatens the lifeline of our family. If we don't stop her, we will all be destroyed in the future!"
Song Guogong sighed and said: "You told us this plan because you hope that we will also participate in it."
The Marquis of Hedong smiled and said: "Young Master Xiao really made it clear that our three families share weal and woe. If the Xue family is in trouble, you will also be implicated. In this case, why not conspire with me for big things."
Xu Guogong said angrily: "I knew you would use that contract to drag us into trouble sooner or later! If I had known this, I really shouldn't have agreed to you ten years ago."
The Marquis of Hedong said calmly: "If this were the case, your Wei family would have been liquidated long ago."
Xu Guogong wanted to refute, but Song Guogong said: "Please explain the plan in detail."
Xu Guogong was surprised and said: "Brother Xiao, do you really want to agree to him?"
Song Guogong sighed: "What Mr. Xue said is right. If the Wu family is allowed to take power, our family will inevitably decline."
Xu Guogong was silent for a while and stopped talking.
The Marquis of Hedong took two steps forward and told the two men the entire plan in a low voice. The expressions of Xu Guogong and Song Guogong kept changing.
After hearing the end, both of them were amazed and immediately smiled, showing that they were very satisfied with the plan.